


The Curse and The Coffee Shop

by merlinsivan



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Curse Breaking, F/F, F/M, Inspired by Once Upon a Time (TV), M/M, Once and Future King
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-06-24 00:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15618618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlinsivan/pseuds/merlinsivan
Summary: OUAT/ Coffee Shop AU. When Morgana casts a curse that will bring the gang back to our world with no recollection of who they are, will true love’s kiss be able to break the curse? Featuring dragons turned baristas, clueless warlocks and kings that may realise magic isn't such a bad thing after all.





	1. Martin Emrys?

 

“Martin Emrys? That isn’t your real name surely, if you ticked the nickname option?” asks the man sitting across the desk from “Martin” Emrys. There is a look of annoyance and slight disgust written across his face as he waits for an answer.

“No, my real name is not Martin. I go by Martin as my real name is embarrassing” comes the reply from the young man awkwardly twiddling his thumbs in his seat.

“I don’t care. We have a policy of honesty in this coffee shop, and if you are unable to respect that I kindly request that you leave”, the man offers while gesturing to the door.

“Martin” considers the offer before answering .

“Fine. My name is Merlin Emrys”, Merlin answers, expecting laughter. There is none. Instead the other man just stares at him.

“Merlin Emrys is your real name?”

“Yes.”

The older man reaches forward to shake his hand, although Merlin can feel his hand trembling slightly under his touch. Why his name should make any difference at employment at a coffee shop he doesn’t know, but he figures he shouldn’t really ask questions.

“Very well then Merlin. My name is Kil, you shall learn what this is short for when you understand why the name of my shop is amusing. Now tell me, why do you wish to work here?” Kil asks.

“I would like to work here because I need a full-time to job to help my mum out” Merlin answers truthfully. Merlin is tempted to ask about the hypocrisy of Kil not revealing his real name but keeps his mouth shut. After all, when he figures the riddle out he won’t need to.

“An excellent reason indeed. Do you have any experience working in a shop or catering Merlin?” Kil asks while typing at his computer.

Merlin scratches his head while Kil looks at him expectantly,

“Not really, apart from making my mum soup when she’s sick…” Merlin jokes. Upon seeing the look on Kil’s face, “… but I’m a fast learner and a hard worker” he offers.

Kil nods. “Assuming I offer you the position, what hours are you available to work?”

“All of them. I’d be happy to work weekends too if you need me to”, Merlin replies.

“Thank you Merlin” Kil says as he finishes typing. “We do have a few more interviews to do before we can make any final decisions but you can expect an email in your inbox by the end of the day.”

Merlin stands up and offers the older man his hand. Kil takes it and shakes it.

“Thank you so much for having me. It was great to meet you Kil.”

“Likewise, Merlin. I hope to see you again soon.” Kil flashes a surprisingly toothy smile and escorts Merlin out from the shop. As he watches Merlin walk away, he lights up a cigarette and chuckles to himself.

“The young warlock applying to work in my coffee shop? The witch’s curse may finally be broken it seems.”

As he turns to back inside, he laughs at the sign above the door as he closes it behind him.

_The Great Dragon coffee shop. Makers of destiny and great coffee since 2000._

_Open from 6am-6pm weekdays. 8am- 8pm Saturdays and 10am-4pm Sundays._

_Currently in need of 2 full-time baristas, please send your CVs to kil@thegreatdragoncoffeeshop.co.uk_

 

Author's Note: So this is the first chapter in what will hopefully be a multi-chapter story! Please leave kudos and any comments below, all feedback is welcome! Next chapter will contain a bit more information about the curse, which was inspired by the original Storybrooke curse in Once Upon a Time.

 

Songs to listen to while reading this chapter: No-One Mourns The Wicked by the Wicked cast, I have a dream by ABBA, Wonderwall by Oasis, Everybody's Changing by Keane, The Call of Destiny/Titles by Rob Lane.


	2. The Great Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kilgharrah and Merlin's thoughts on their first meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the previous chapter! This chapter explains a bit more about the curse, if you want to learn more about the inspiration then please look up the Once Upon a Time original Storybrooke curse!

Kil Gwydion,

The Great Dragon Coffee Shop

Glastonbury

BA6 9DY

_Dear Merlin Emrys,_

_I am pleased to tell you that I would like to offer you the position of full-time barista in our shop. Your contracted hours are as follows:_

_Monday-Thursday 9am-6pm. Friday 6am-6pm. Weekends are subject to when cover is needed._

_If there are any questions please let me know._

_I expect to see you at 9am on Monday morning._

_Kind regards,_

_Kil Gwydion._

Kilgharrah pressed SEND on his computer and sat back in his chair. In his 18 years of running the coffee shop he didn’t think he had been this nervous for a prospective employee to accept a job offer. Of course, not every person he had employed had been Merlin Emrys, the one person destined to break the curse. Except…

“… Except he has no idea who he is, who I am or anything about what happened” Kilgharrah finished aloud. That had been the genius part of the curse, that no-one would remember who they were or anything about their lives in Camelot except for herself. However, Morgana hadn’t counted on dragons being unaffected by the curse, even if they were now 40-something year old men running coffee shops he thought to himself. She also hadn’t thought that Kilgharrah would have still retained his magic, and that he had spent the last 19 years attempting to work out how the curse could be broken in a world, seemingly without any magic in it.

Turning him into a human was particularly nasty but had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As a human he had access to resources only humans did, and didn’t have to worry about being hunted or persecuted like a dragon would, in this world. So he had made do, and started a business to keep himself busy, ready for Emrys’ eventual return.

Now Merlin was back, it seemed like the time that had stood still for 18 years had started to move again. Magic would return once more.

***---------_________---------***

 

Merlin Emrys,

Flat 7, Albion Heights,

Glastonbury,

BA5 2DJ

_Hi Kil,_

_That sounds great! I’ll be there at 9 on Monday._

_Thanks so much for taking me on, I don’t have much experience but I promise I won’t let you down._

_Kind regards,_

_Merlin Emrys._

Merlin felt pleased with himself. He had secured himself a full time job for the summer holidays with decent pay and decent hours. He would be able to help towards his keep and have enough money aside to go to the pub and the local club. By all accounts he should feel content and relaxed.

Yet he could not escape this nagging feeling that he already knew Kil from somewhere before. Merlin racked his brains for where he could have seen him. Average height, normal build, greying hair and amber eyes that almost seemed to glow at him. Amber eyes were pretty unusual, which could be why he was sure that he had recognised Kil from somewhere. There was no way, of course, as he hadn’t even stepped foot in the shop until he had seen the job advert. It was even more unusual that Kil seemed to have recognised him too by the way he reacted when Merlin told him his name. However based on the fact that Kil had given him a riddle to tell Merlin his real name, the chances of Kil telling Merlin why they seemed to recognise each other seemed pretty slim.

The Great Dragon coffee shop, Merlin mused. Coffee shops having weird names was nothing new, there was one near him called _Excalibur._ There had to be some reason that The Great Dragon was called that, but without getting to know Kil more, he would remain clueless. Maybe Merlin would also figure out why the name was funny and if it had anything to do with the reason Kil refused to tell him his real name.

***-------________________________-------***

 

Monday morning arrived quicker that both Merlin and Kilgharrah anticipated. Kilgharrah had spent the weekend reminding himself that Merlin doesn’t know who he is, doesn’t remember Camelot and probably doesn’t even believe in magic in this realm. Merlin had spent the weekend crashing around in the kitchen attempting to learn basic culinary skills so that he didn’t look like a fool on his first day.

At 8.58 Merlin walked through the door. Kil was waiting for him at one of the tables, and rose to greet him.

“Merlin, it’s nice to see you. Welcome back”.

“Thank you Kil. I’ve brought all my paperwork with me in case you need any” Merlin gestures to his bag.

“Splendid. I’ll take you round back so you can put the rest of your things in your locker before you start. Actually…” Kil stops and gestures to the girl serving behind the till. She looks about Merlin’s age and is walking towards Merlin with a beaming smile.

“Kil finally found someone else to help out!” she greets while shaking Merlin’s hand. Any initial nerves Merlin felt disappear, as he takes an instant liking to her.

“That’s me. It’s nice to meet you, my names Mart- I mean Merlin” he says smiling back.

“Merlin? Kil doesn’t half have a liking for old names doesn’t he! My name is Gwen, short for Guinevere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next time we will finally be meeting Gwen properly and exploring who else works at The Great Dragon, and the other applicants for the other barista post. All comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: The City by The 1975, One Short Day by Wicked Ensemble, Magic by Coldplay


	3. Is it Gwen or Guinevere?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we get to know Gwen a bit more, as well as the other applicants for the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and the lovely comment! I'm hoping you'll enjoy this next chapter just as much!

“Is it Gwen or Guinevere?” Merlin asks her. He isn’t sure why, but he has an instinct that it’s Gwen.

“Definitely Gwen. Only my dad calls me Guinevere and that’s when he’s annoyed at me!” Gwen laughs. Gwen suits her more than Guinevere, Gwen looks pretty cool and chilled out, not serious enough to be a Queen. Her short curly hair falls just past her ears, which are holding some ornate dangly earrings, which Gwen catches Merlin looking at.

“Do you like them? My dad made them, he’s a blacksmith by trade but he can also make jewellery as all metal-work is linked in with each other.”

“I love them, I’ve always thought about getting an ear pierced but keep chickening out” Merlin smiles. The earrings really do suit her, the gold and red suited for someone who could also be known as Guinevere.

“Go for it! Maybe one day after work I’ll take you to Claire’s, or a tattoo parlour to get them done…” Gwen asks, “… assuming you’re 18?”

“Yes, I turned 18 earlier this year, how old are you?”

“19, so old enough for you to know not to mess with me” Gwen teases, and they both laugh.

“I’m glad to see that you are both getting along, but would it be alright if Merlin came with me to fill out the paperwork, and then I send him to you afterwards Gwen?” Kil interrupts.

“No worries, see you in a minute” Gwen smiles, and walks back behind the counter.

 

***-------________________________-------***

 

 

It doesn’t take long for Merlin and Kilgharrah to fill out the paperwork needed for Merlin to start. His personal details, availability and his employment contract. As Merlin signs the contract and Kil countersigns it, Kil asks,

“Do you have any questions before you start training with Gwen?”

Merlin thinks about it. He does have a question actually, why is it that he feels such an instant connection to Gwen when he knows for certain he has never met her? Is there something in the air in this coffee shop?

“Is there anything I need to know about Gwen before I start working with her?”

Kilgharrah pauses before answering

“Only that you need to listen to her, as she is easily the most knowledgeable and hard-working employee I have. Do as she asks and you cannot go wrong.”

“Thanks Kil, is there anything else you need me to do or that I need to know?”

Kil shakes his head,

“Only that on Friday’s I call my employees in for a one-to-one to see how they are doing. Except for Gwen, she has hers on a Saturday.”

Merlin rises from his chair,

“I’ll go and get started then”.

“Please do Merlin”, and Kilgharrah watches Merlin walk towards Gwen and says something to her before they both start laughing. Kilgharrah gently closes the door and sits back in his chair.

He could see the instant connection between Merlin and Gwen the second they clapped eyes on each other. He wonders if it had been the same in Camelot, as he and Merlin had never directly spoke about Gwen. Either way, he was glad that Merlin was friends with someone he could trust, and that Kilgharrah knew he could trust.

Gwen was the first person from the Camelot world that he had employed, 2 years ago when Gwen was seventeen. When he was flicking through CV’s, he had come across the name and could only wonder if it was the right Guinevere. As she walked in the shop, Kil had to fight back tears as he shook her hand, as it would seem that things were really starting to change.

Things had changed since Gwen had started working at the coffee shop. Gwen was always a cheerful employee and her enthusiasm was infectious. Regular customers were down to Gwen’s ever-present smile, something that Kilgharrah’s biting sarcasm had never been able to entice. She was not only a sunny employee but also a bright one that was able to manage others as well as get her own work done. Kilgharrah hadn’t had anything to do with her in Camelot, but perhaps if he had, things might have turned out differently. Gwen could persuade the sun to set in the east if she wanted to with her smiles. And not long after Gwen, Lancelot had followed.

 

 

***-------________________________-------***

“… Here is the food cabinet. We don’t personally prep the food apart from warming things up if they want us to. Don’t ask me where we get this from because Kil takes care of it before any of us get here, and even I don’t know and I’ve been 2 years” Gwen explained as she showed Merlin the display cabinets. “We also have spare food in the cupboard below the sink which doubles as a fridge.”

They moved towards the coffee machine. Gwen described to Merlin all of the different settings and which coffee required what setting,

“… but honestly Merlin don’t worry about that just yet. Just shadow me for the first few orders and then we’ll make some together!”

“Honestly Gwen I might need to watch for more than a few orders, I barely know the difference between a cappuccino and a mocha” Merlin sighs.

Gwen gives Merlin a reassuring smile,

“Tell me you at least drink coffee though please. Lance doesn’t even _drink_ coffee and he works in a bloody coffee shop!”

Merlin returns Gwen’s smile,

“Don’t worry, I do drink it, but my kind of coffee is just regular filter coffee stuff, not the fancy shit in coffee shops.” Gwen laughs before Merlin realises what he’s said, and he can feel a blush on his cheeks.

“Unfortunately for you, the ‘fancy shit’ is your life now. There’s a little chart though”, Gwen says while rummaging through the kitchen drawer and hands the chart to Merlin, “… which shows you how much espresso, water and milk to put in each. This will be your bible for the first few shifts that you do. Anything else on top is usually just syrups which are here next to the machine.”

“Great! So I should just watch you do the orders and then I’ll start trying to copy?” Merlin asks.

“That’s right! When it isn’t so busy, we’ll get you to try some of the different coffees we do, so when you practise making your own, you’ll know whether you’ve done them right by the taste” Gwen answers Merlin, as she turns to face the customer waiting. The customer asks for a double espresso which Gwen quickly complies with as Merlin eagerly watches. After the customer pays and thanks her, she turns back to Merlin.

“Did you watch that Merlin?”

“Yep, like a hawk. So if I poison myself when I make my own, can you write on my gravestone “Gwen made me test it?”

Gwen’s laugh can be heard from Kilgharrah’s office.

 

***-------________________________-------***

“A manager’s work is never done” Kilgharrah muttered to himself as he sorted through the new applications for the other barista post. Merlin may have filled one of the posts, but he still needs someone to fill the other barista role.

After 7 applications, Kilgharrah was considering calling it a day. There was too much of what he’d seen before; “ _I’m a hard-worker”_ _, “I’m dedicated”, “I’m reliable,_ which were phrases that everyone wrote and no-one meant on their CVs. There was no substance and no real truth in any of the CVs. Still, there was a few left, which meant that there might be some decent candidates available.

He paused and looked through his office window at Gwen and Merlin. He could see Merlin attempting to make a beverage and Gwen smiling at him and mouthing what he guessed were words of encouragement. Kilgharrah smiled to himself. Whether Merlin knew who he or Gwen really were was irrelevant, just seeing Merlin after so long was enough to warm even the coldest of hearts, and to see him laughing was an added bonus. 

With Gwen and Merlin’s happy faces on his mind, Kilgharrah sighed and decided to look at one more application before calling it a day. Food orders weren’t going to order themselves. He clicked on the application form and saw the first name. “ _First name: Arthur.”_ Kilgharrah froze. Was this a coincidence? Was this really happening now? Was the time finally nigh?

He scrolled down and let out a burst of noise, a mixture between a laugh and a sob.

_“Surname: Pendragon.”_

 

***-------________________________-------***

_Arthur Pendragon,_

_Avalon Road,_

_Glastonbury_

_BA16 0EX_

_Dear Mr K.Jones_

_My name is Arthur Pendragon and I’d like to apply for a job at The Great Dragon Coffee Shop._

_I’d like to start by saying how sorry I am about what happened between my father and yourself. I hope that won’t count against me in my application._

_I would love to work in your shop because I know from reviews of people I know that it is a great coffee shop with great employees. I believe I’m very hard-working, and have helped my father out in his business many times over the years. I think this gives me the experience of being professional in a work-related environment. I do not have any formal experience in retail but I am hoping this is something that I can learn on the job._

_If I’m totally honest, I don’t need the money. However, my wages will be going towards a project to help homeless people in and around Glastonbury Tor. I hope you don’t see this as me trying to come across as a valiant knight or something, but rather that you’re going to have Uther’s son working for you essentially for free. Also that you will be helping a great cause by employing me._

_I hope to be able to meet with you and start soon. I’m available to work all hours that are listed._

_Kind regards,_

_Arthur Pendragon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Are you curious to what happened between Uther and Kilgharrah in our world? Where and who is Lancelot in this world? Tune in to see what Uther did to anger Kilgharrah so greatly... All kudos and comments are appreciated!
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: Merlin's Arrival at Camelot by Rob Lane, Always In My Head by Coldplay, Never Be the Same by Camila Cabello, Down South by Lady Antebellum, Walking in the Wind by One Direction


	4. Are you sure it's the right one?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and Gwen have talk about guys, Kilgharrah finds out whether the real Arthur is coming for an interview, and it turns out that first impressions are important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos and comments! I promise we are starting to get to the real story, but to build a good home you have to have a stable foundation!

Arthur’s interview was scheduled for Wednesday, along with two other applicants, who in Kilgharrah’s view were completely irrelevant. He knew if this was the right Arthur that he was going to choose Arthur regardless of how great the other two applicants were. Unfortunate for them, but they didn’t have a curse to break. However, if the application turned out to be coincidence, the odds would be back in their favour. Then again, with how Kilgharrah’s luck was turning out lately, the once and future king might just step foot into his life again.

 

***-------________________________-------***

Gwen and Merlin were oblivious to Kilgharrah’s private plans the next day, and were starting to get to know each other better. Merlin now knew that Gwen had a younger brother, Elyan, and they both lived with their father not too far from the shop. Gwen was doing evening classes for a Leadership and Management course at the local college when she wasn’t working, and didn’t know what she wanted to do beyond that “… as if I should know, I’m not at uni for a reason.”

Gwen had found out that Merlin had just finished his A-levels and had applied to do medicine at Cambridge, and had been inspired by his uncle Gaius who was a well-respected doctor among the medical community in Glastonbury Tor. If his results weren’t perfect, he was going to take a year out to figure out what he was going to do instead as he didn’t have a back-up plan. Merlin lived with his mother and was an only child “… except for Will, he’s like my brother. Except you’re not really meant to have wanked off your brother.”

“ _Merlin_!” Gwen exclaims with her eyes wide. Merlin laughs at the expression on her face.

“Oh Gwen it was _years_ ago. Well, two. Whatever. We realised after a whole 2 weeks of dating that it was really fucking weird, so we went back to being best mates, and have been ever since”.

“That’s… sweet” Gwen offers hesitantly. Merlin laughs again.

“Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have been so blunt. But yeah, there’s been no-one since Will, and since I’m hopefully going Cambridge in a few months’ time there’s no real point in looking for anyone else. What about you?” Merlin asks, and Gwen blushes.

“Well… Merlin I’m not even sure if I want to talk about this” Gwen answers, looking at her hands.

“Oh come on Gwen, you can trust me. It’s not Kil is it?” he guesses as Gwen shrieks with horror and hits him on the arm.

“No of course not. Same sort of area though”.

“Could it be the mysterious Lance that you seem to talk about _all_ the time?” Merlin suggests, as Gwen’s cheeks confirm it.

“Merlin you mustn’t tell him. I’m sure Kil already knows; as every time he sees us working together he seems to _wink_ at me”, Gwen pleads. Merlin nods,

“As if I would Gwen. I haven’t even met him yet! So please, tell me more about him!” Merlin inquires.

Gwen sighs and explains everything to Merlin. Her and Lance have been working together for around a year and a half. The day they met Gwen knew she liked him, and has liked him ever since. She tells Merlin that Lance is doing a Personal Training apprenticeship at the same college as Gwen, but as his is full-time, he only works Saturdays, Sundays and the occasional Friday. Which is why Gwen works Saturdays instead of Monday-Friday, “but don’t you dare tell him that, he thinks I help my dad out on that day. I do now, but I didn’t originally.” In all the time they’ve been working together, Gwen has never spoke to Lance about her feelings because,

“What if he doesn’t like me back and it’s horribly awkward? I’ll have to work with him for the foreseeable future since neither of us intend on leaving Glastonbury? Or worse, he does and then we break up and have to work together?”

“Or what if you are destined to spend your lives together? Gwen, you might be missing out on the love of your life here” Merlin exclaims. Gwen shakes her head at him.

“Merlin, not that I don’t believe you, or want to, but I’m not sure.” Gwen isn’t sure what it is, but something instinctive has been holding her back from Lancelot the entire time. Almost as if something is telling her to wait to be sure.

“How about on Saturday I observe the two of you together and let you know what I think on Monday?” Merlin queries. Gwen’s face lights up.

“That’s perfect Merlin! Thank you!” Gwen says and gives Merlin a hug. Merlin hugs her back. It feels nice to have made a friend in Gwen.

 

***-------________________________-------***

Wednesday morning arrived. Kilgharrah had barely slept a wink, and had spent the entire night trying to answer questions he kept asking himself. What if it is the real Arthur? How is he going to get him to help break the curse? How will he get Merlin to believe in magic again, let alone that he is the most powerful sorcerer to ever live? What if Merlin and Arthur hate each other in this world? What if the cure to the curse doesn’t work? Will they be without their memories forever? In the end, he had muttered a sleeping spell under his breath and instead let the thoughts infiltrate his dreams.

The first two interviews seem to drag on forever. The first interview is with an unremarkable boy called Adam who has no experience in retail or working whatsoever. Kilgharrah scribbles on his CV “ _only hire if the other two are shit.”_ There was nothing wrong with Adam, but there wasn’t much right with him either. Also, what kind of a name was Adam among employees that had names of legend?

The second went better than Adam’s but ultimately much slower, perhaps due to the anticipation that Arthur’s was afterwards. Kil had purposefully put Arthur last, that way if it wasn’t the real deal his disappointment wouldn’t affect the other two interviewees. Her name was Abbey and she already had experience working in retail, and seemed to have her head screwed on, unlike Adam. He told her he would be in touch, as he really would if the Arthur Pendragon that submitted the application turned out to be the wrong one.

Kil took a deep breath to steady himself. He had to stay calm no matter what the outcome, as he was the only person fully aware of the importance of this interview. If Gwen or Merlin saw him scream or start to cry they’d think he was crazier than they already thought. Not to mention, it might just frighten Arthur off. He sighed deeply and waited for the clock to turn 11.

He pushed the office door open at precisely 11.00 and scanned the shop. Several tables had people sitting at them. Merlin and Gwen were working together to make the order of an elderly man who was waiting to be served. No sign of any prospective interviewee. Kil sat down at the nearest table and waited.

Within minutes, the door opened and a man entered the shop. Kilgharrah’s eyes darted to the door immediately. He had short blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He was fairly tall and had a well-muscled physique that a suit did not hide, but instead complimented. The way the man held himself was full of pride.

He was the once and future king.

 

***-------________________________-------***

 

Kilgharrah slowly walked towards him as if it was a dream. If he had his way he would have ran, or broke into some sort of song, but he was forcing himself to be calm. Arthur Pendragon was really here, and was applying for a job in his shop. Both of his current impulses would drive him away forever, and he had waited far too long for this day to come. Arthur spotted Kilgharrah looking at him and briskly walked towards him, and held out a hand.

“You must be Kil Jones. I’m Arthur Pendragon and I’m here for the interview” Arthur said while shaking his hand. It was a strong handshake, and Kil expected nothing less from the king of Camelot. Not that Arthur knew that.

“You are correct, Arthur. My name is Kil, please step this way into my office”, Kil gestures to his office, and Arthur follows the gesture. Kilgharrah shuts the door behind him.

 

***-------________________________-------***

 

“So Arthur, why is it you want to work here? To help the homeless?” Kilgharrah challenges. To be honest, he doesn’t give a hoot about why Arthur wants to work here, he just needs him to work here. Kilgharrah looks at Arthur sitting in the chair in modern clothes, and almost wants to laugh. To see the king in a suit rather than a full set of armour is quite the stretch, but explaining why he’s laughing would be even more awkward than the random laugh so he tries to ignore Arthur’s clothes.

“Yes to help the homeless, but also to right the wrong my father did. I know what happened wasn’t fair to you and I want to say how sorry I am” confirms Arthur.

Kil waves his hand in response,

“I appreciate your apology Arthur but you have done nothing wrong and I don’t expect an apology for your father’s mistakes. Your commitment to helping the homeless allows me to see that you are a different man to the one your father is, and I hope that you will stay that way, rather than follow in his footsteps.”

“Thank you. I’m trying to be my own person, but it’s… difficult at times. Especially when my father is such a successful leader of his company. It’s a lot to live up to and be compared with” Arthur expresses. Kilgharrah understands, well of course he does, more than Arthur could possibly know.

“I understand that Arthur, more than you could possibly know. Here at The Great Dragon we encourage our customers and employees to find their own destinies, no matter who they are” Kil proclaims. Arthur looks reassured by this, and Kilgharrah is pleased. He presses on,

“With that said, we will move forward to the more basic interview questions. Do you have any experience in retail?”

“No I don’t. I do have experience in the workplace, but not retail specifically” Arthur answers as Kilgharrah scribbles this down.

“Okay, not a problem, we can train you. How about hours, what hours are you available?” Kil prompts.

“I’m available all hours that you’re open”, Arthur says and Kil draws a smiley face in the availability box. This is looking good.

“Excellent, now when you would be able to start?” Kil questions while silently hoping he says the magic word.

“Immediately.”

Kil smiles at Arthur as he scrawls the answer on the application form. Arthur cautiously returns the smile. In his 19 years in this world, he doesn’t think he has ever been so hopeful.

“That’s fantastic. You’ll start on Monday, and you will be working with Gwen and Merlin. Gwen will be training you as Merlin is also new” Kilgharrah declares, hopeful there will be no objections. There aren’t any.

“In which case Arthur, I’ll introduce you to your new colleagues, Gwen and Merlin!”

 

***-------________________________-------***

“… I wonder who Kil chose?” Gwen ponders out loud. She and Merlin have only had a few customers come in since Kil took Arthur in for his interview, which has given them time to talk about the prospective interviewees.

“No idea. I know it won’t be the first one though, Kil couldn’t wait to be rid of him. I was surprised he didn’t tell him ‘good riddance’ as he said goodbye to him” Merlin chuckles.

“I agree with you there. What did you think of them all though?” Gwen asks.

“Um…” Merlin thinks as he casts his mind over the new recruits. The first guy seemed nice enough, but didn’t seem to know enough about coffee to qualify. The girl seemed the most professional and probably the most likely to get a job. However…

“… I think that last guy will get the job though. Did you see Kil’s face when he walked in, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so pleased to see anyone in the 2 years I’ve worked here” Gwen interjects and Merlin nods in agreement.

“100%. He seems so arrogant though, I don’t think I’m going to get on with him at all.”

“Me neither. Can you blame him though, he is gorgeous” Gwen says dreamily.

Merlin had to admit she was right though. Although he seemed conceited, he was arguably one of the best-looking guys he had ever seen and didn’t he just _know_ it. The guy was also the latest person from The Great Dragon to give Merlin a serious case of _déjà vu. As if by magic, just as he was wondering if he had met the guy somewhere, the guy and Kil came out of Kil’s office._

 

***-------________________________-------***

“Merlin, Gwen, I would like to introduce you to our latest employee, Arthur Pendragon”, Kil beams at Merlin and Gwen. Gwen politely smiles and shakes Arthur’s hand. Only after being nudged by Gwen does Merlin offer a hand to Arthur.

“It’s nice to meet you both. I’m going to start on Monday” Arthur says, and before he can continue, Merlin interrupts,

“Why did you decide to work here?”

Something about Merlin’s interruption seems to throw Arthur off as he responds,

“Well I certainly don’t need the money if that’s what you mean”. Almost immediately Merlin’s neutral face turns into one of disgust as Arthur realises exactly what he’s said.

“Good to know your highness. I’ll be working for the money I actually need and doing a job that isn’t being wasted by some rich prick doing it for fun” Merlin retorts and storms back behind the counter.

Arthur stalks out of the store after politely saying goodbye to Gwen and Kil and telling them that he’ll see them on Monday. As Gwen goes over to talk to Merlin, Kil puts his head in his hands.

He hadn’t expected them to hate each other all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! In the next chapter I intend to introduce you all to the lovely Lancelot as well as some of Arthur's thoughts on the interview, and what he really thought of The Great Dragon and the employees. All comments and kudos are greatly appreciated :)
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: Sign of the Times by Harry Styles, the light is coming by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, Somebody to Love by Queen, Begin Again by Taylor Swift


	5. Do you believe?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the Arthur Pendragon storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a really short chapter! I'm hoping the next one will be longer :)

“I don’t want to work with a Tory wanker!”

“Oh for God’s sake Merlin it was probably just a misunderstanding!”

2 days had passed since the stormy first meeting between Arthur and The Great Dragon employees. Not much had happened except for Gwen and Merlin bickering over Arthur’s controversial first words.

“Nonetheless”, Merlin retorts. “Who says that? What prat actually says on their first time meeting someone that they’re doing a job but don’t actually need the money? Sorry Gwen but what does he expect?”

Gwen sighs. She had been trying unsuccessfully since Wednesday to convince Merlin to give Arthur a second chance. First impressions were important, but they could also turn out to be wrong. Which had proved futile to try and explain to Merlin, who was insistent that Arthur was a “tory wanker.” Perhaps it was Gwen’s personal experience, but she knew if Kil was that excited about an employee, it was usually a good sign.

“Enough! Merlin we’re going to have to make the best of things, as there is no way Kil is going to change his mind!” Gwen shouts. Merlin falls silent, feeling sheepish. He has the feeling that Gwen doesn’t shout very often.

“I’m sorry Gwen, but as someone who took this job because they _need_ the money… it’s struck a nerve” Merlin apologises. Gwen’s face softens.

“I know, and it annoyed me too. But for both our sakes we need to give him the benefit of the doubt, or it’s going to be a very long summer.”

 

***-------________________________-------***

Kil told Gwen and Merlin that the one-to-ones would be in alphabetical order, meaning that Gwen would be the first to enter his office.  As Gwen sat across from him, Kil gave her a rare genuine smile. Gwen, simply put, was probably the kindest human he had ever come across. She had encouraged him to start seeing the good in people rather than the bad, a habit that had been formed before Camelot even existed. Gwen was an excellent listener and had a steady head on her shoulders; which is why Kil had trusted her to directly manage other employees when she was only 18. Now, at 19, her sense of justice and fairness only seemed to grow. He understood why she had made an excellent queen, he thought sadly. Kil forced his mind to the present.

“So Gwen, how have you been this week?”

“I’ve been good thanks, and yourself?”

“I have been very good, thank you Gwen.” Gwen smiled at this and took a sip of water.

“So we have a new employee Gwen. What do you think of Merlin?” Kil asks.

Gwen’s face lights up.

“I love him! Well not like that, but you know what I mean. We get on so well it’s like we’ve known each other for years.”

Kil laughs, and only wishes Gwen could realise how truly funny that sentence is,

“I had the same feeling when I met him. I’m hoping for great things from Young Merlin.”

Gwen nods in agreement,

“Me too. By the way, do you know that he has already decided to hate Arthur? He’s been bitching about him for the last 2 days.”

Kil groans in exasperation,

“Yes, I’m well aware Gwen. I’ll be having words with him in his one-to-one. But what do you think of him?” he asks with keen interest.

“I think he’s probably a bit of an idiot for saying what he did. I think he deserves a second chance though”, Gwen replies.

“Quite handsome, as well, isn’t he?” Kil says, testing the waters. He knows what response he wants, and is internally crossing his talons that his luck will hold out.

Gwen blushes,

“Well I suppose so, I’m not blind, but….” She fades, a dreamy expression crossing her face, “… he’s not exactly Lance is he?”

Kil exhales in relief.

***-------________________________-------***

Somewhere across town, Arthur Pendragon was eating a sandwich and thinking about The Great Dragon too. He had made an idiot of himself in front of the people he was going to work with for the next few months. In Arthur’s mind, no matter what people said, first impressions do matter. Which is why he was now going to have to work very hard to change them.

Arthur thought back to the people he had met. Kil was a very strange character, as although he didn’t look that old, he seemed to have almost an ancient wisdom whenever he spoke to Arthur. When Arthur had spoken to him, he had felt like Kil already knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth. He had mentally made a note never to cross Kil, as he reckoned if he had even tried to, Kil would make his life a living hell. Even if it was just revenge on his father.

Gwen on the other hand seemed totally harmless, the complete opposite of Kil. He knew from observation alone, she was probably kind and fair to all those, even if they didn’t deserve it. He truly hoped that Gwen hadn't been put off by his stupid mouth, and was willing to give him another chance. Arthur thought she was beautiful too, and he was sure that whoever Gwen decided to love would be the luckiest person in the world. 

Which left Merlin, who had left the most confusing impression of all. There was something about Merlin which had intrigued him from the second he saw him. Arthur had the feeling that there was a lot more to Merlin than meets the eye. However, as Arthur remembered miserably, he had failed to impress him, as Merlin had directly called him a “rich prick” and walked away from him. He hadn’t even been given a chance to say to Merlin that it wasn’t the case, and to let him explain to himself. He reckoned that he was going to have to work pretty hard to change Merlin's mind, and he hoped that it would be worth the effort.

The weirdest part of all of this, was that Arthur had experienced dejá vu meeting all 3 of them. Still, it probably meant nothing, right?

***-------________________________-------***

Merlin stalking into his office with a huffy look on his face is reminiscent of their Camelot days, when he would be bursting to complain about how annoying Arthur is. It’s nice to see that over the course of 1000 years and a curse, nothing has changed, he smiles thinly.

“So young Merlin, how have you found your first week at The Great Dragon?”

Merlin smiles,

“I’ve really enjoyed it! Gwen is a great mentor, and I think is starting to become a really good friend.”

Kilgharrah types this onto the computer. Well, he actually writes “ _at least Merlin and Gwen like each other_.”

“And what about Arthur? It seems as though you have decided to dislike him.”

“What do you mean ‘decided’? He came in here acting like the most arrogant prat I’ve ever seen”, Merlin retorts.

“Merlin are you familiar with the expression ‘looks can be deceiving’”? Kil asks.

“Yes but have you heard of the expression ‘trust your instincts’”, Merlin replies cheekily. Kil merely raises an eyebrow.

“Merlin as your manager I strongly advise that you give Arthur another chance or things are going to be unpleasant”, Kil warns. There is no real threat behind the warning, but Kilgharrah has not waited 19 years for Merlin to give up so easily.

“Yes Kil. Can I go now?” Merlin says, rising to his feet.

“Just a moment, before you go, what do you think of magic?

“Like magic tricks or witchcraft type stuff?”

“The latter.”

“I think its bullshit, why do you ask?” Merlin says, oblivious to what’s left of Kilgharrah’s heart shattering.

“Just curious, what with your name being Merlin and all” Kilgharrah lies, trying to keep his voice steady.

“I did believe once. I tried abracadabra and nothing happened. I figured if my name is Merlin and I can’t even get that spell to work, I’m a pretty shit wizard eh”, Merlin laughs, and closes the door behind him.

“Or you were using the wrong spells”, Kilgharrah quietly replies as the door shuts. It appears his luck has finally run out.

It’s quite a conundrum when the most powerful sorcerer to ever walk the earth doesn’t believe in magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY but everyone's feelings and the magic reveal had to be done. Lancelot deserves his own chapter, which is why he will be introduced next chapter, I promise.  
> Also for non-UK readers, a Tory is someone who supports the conservative party. It's quite a big insult to call someone a Tory as typical tories are usually homophobic, sexist, xenophobic etc and are very privileged. 
> 
> Thanks again to all of the lovely comments and kudos, they make me so happy whenever I read them!
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: The bond of sacrifice by Rob Lane, If I could turn back time by Cher, Wide awake by Katy Perry, King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men  
> As a sidenote: the unofficial song for this story is Magic by Coldplay, it looks like an obvious choice but when you listen to the words, it's really not.


	6. It's just Lance actually

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally meet Lancelot! Hopefully I've done him justice!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the kudos and comments! Sorry that this chapter has taken so long to write, I had a bit of writer's block!

“Are you Lancelot?” Merlin asks to the young man behind the work counter as he walks into The Great Dragon on Saturday morning. The man turns around and Merlin fights down a gasp. The guy is _hot_ ; not that he doubted Gwen’s taste but _still._ He had short curly hair, brown eyes and had biceps that he could see through the polo shirt uniform that they all had to wear. The man also had a great smile, as he walked forward to shake Merlin’s hand.

“It’s just Lance, actually. You must be Merlin, then? Gwen’s told me a lot about you”.

“Probably not as much as she’s told me about you”, Merlin replies and they both laugh. Wow, Merlin thinks, if Gwen didn’t have a thing for Lance, I would definitely be jumping on that.

Almost on cue, Gwen walks through the door. Merlin has to fight back a laugh when he sees her. Gwen had clearly not checked the weather this morning and was absolutely drenched. Forgetting he was meant to be helping, he calls out,

“Gwen you look like a drowned rat!”

If looks could kill, Merlin would be dead on the floor.

“Don’t be mean Merlin, Gwen still looks lovely in the rain”, Lance defends, and earns a decidedly soppy smile from Gwen. How these two aren’t together is a total mystery, Merlin snorts, and starts preparing the food for the display window.

 

***-------________________________-------***

Throughout the morning, Merlin does remember to keep to his word and observe Gwen and Lance working together, and all that he sees is positive. Almost wordlessly Gwen and Lance communicate, before she even opens her mouth to ask something, Lance has already done it, or before he asks her to pass him something, the object is already in his hands. The seamless exchanges could be a result of working together so long, but it isn’t just the way that they work together. Lance seems to know when to joke about mistakes being made and when to squeeze Gwen’s arm.

Merlin almost feels disjointed trying to become part of their rhythm. He honestly feels like Gwen and Lance are playing the flute and he’s playing the drums. They end up switching so that Merlin is directly serving customers while Lance and Gwen prepare the food and drinks. Once they switch, Merlin feels like he could be playing the clarinet; not the same as the flute, but part of the same family.

It’s to his surprise when Lance asks him if he wants to take his break at the same time as him. Merlin glances at Gwen doubtfully,

“…. erm are you sure? I don’t mind if you want to go with Gwen, I know you’re friends”.

“Yes, I am! I know Gwen but I need to take the chance to know you Merlin!” Lance replies happily. Gwen is nodding her head in agreement,

“You boys go for it! I’ll be just fine on my own.”

 

***-------________________________-------***

“So, Lance who doesn’t like to be known as Lancelot, what’s your story?” Merlin asks. They’re sitting in Kil’s office, as Kil decided he didn’t need to be in, and had left a number for emergencies.

“Why would I want to be known as Lancelot? I figured with your name being Merlin you’d understand people taking the piss”, Lance argues, sipping his iced tea. The sight of a handsome muscular man sipping an iced tea could be considered comical, but Lance could make drinking anything look cool.

“Oh I do understand. However Kil wouldn’t let me go by Martin, which I normally go by, so for the first time since primary school I’m back to being Merlin”, Merlin sighs.

“Kil calls me Lancelot but that’s it. I don’t mind if you really want to call me Lancelot, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t. I can call you Martin if you want?” Lance offers. Merlin holds a hand up in defeat.

“Honestly it’s fine. It feels almost right here to be called by my real name, maybe because no-one takes the piss” Merlin replies.

They sit in comfortable silence for a few moments, before Merlin tries asking again.

“So Lance, are you ever going to tell me that life story or are you going to leave me wondering?”

Lance startles, and then starts laughing,

“Merlin I’m quite boring, what would you want to know?”

“How about your future plans, maybe your family? Whatever you want to tell me”, Merlin approaches.

“Hmmm. So I enjoy fencing in my spare time, and I’m leader of my local club. In my spare time I also do boxing, which is making me sound like a really violent guy, but I’m not, I just enjoy the training aspect of it. When I’m not training I’m at college doing a sports science course or working here”, Lance replies. That would explain the muscles and why he looks like a walking Adonis. Merlin presses on, aware that he needs to try and dig deeper for Gwen.

“How do you find working here though? What do you think of Kil and Gwen?” Merlin inquires.

“Kil’s a weird guy, as you’ve probably figured out by now, by the medieval name fascination, but he’s pretty harmless. I’ve always got on with him anyway, maybe because we don’t see each other too often, but I like him”, Lance replies truthfully. The insistence of calling him Lancelot had originally irked him, but Lance figured that it was just one of Kil’s odd ways.

“What about Gwen?” Merlin teases, and to his delight a faint blush crosses Lance’s face.

“Gwen’s a lovely girl, I couldn’t ask for a better friend or person to work with. She’s kind, patient, hard-working and I love our Saturdays together” Lance smiles, apparently oblivious to Merlin’s delight,

“What do you think of her?”

“Gwen’s an amazing person and a great friend. I’ve only known her a week but I feel like I’ve known her much longer”, Merlin explains. Lance nods in agreement,

“That’s exactly how I felt when I met her. There’s something about this coffee shop I reckon that makes us all feel connected to each other”, Lance wonders aloud.

“Maybe Kil puts drugs in the water supply?”

It takes a while for both of them to stop laughing.

 

***-------________________________-------***

When Lance leaves an hour earlier than Gwen and Merlin, he gives Gwen a massive hug, and to his surprise, also gives Merlin a quick hug. As he walks out of the shop he calls “Don’t drink the water Merlin!” and Merlin laughs as he waves him off. No sooner has Lance left the shop before Gwen asks,

“So Merlin, what do you think of Lance?”

“If he wasn’t yours I’d go after him myself, he’s gorgeous Gwen.”

“ _Merlin!”_

_“_ Sorry! Seriously though, he seems like such a sweetheart, and you two clearly have chemistry” Merlin responds. Gwen smiles,

“Do you really think so?”

“100%. I’m shocked that you’re not already together to be honest, it’s obvious you like each other to just about everyone except you two.”

Gwen’s face seems to drop at this, rather than smile,

“But that’s just it Merlin. He obviously doesn’t see this or he would have said something by now.”

“No Gwen, he likes you, I’m sure of it”, Merlin disagrees. A look of hope fills Gwen’s face,

“Yes but how sure Merlin? I’m not looking like an idiot if you’re just saying this to make me feel better.”

“I’m really sure”, Merlin says and gives Gwen a quick hug to reassure her. Gwen truly deserves both love and happiness, and he thinks that given the chance, Lance can be the one to give it to her. They almost seem destined to be together, if such a thing as destiny really does exist.

After all, as Kil does proclaim on the coffee shop door, The Great Dragon is ‘ _a _maker of destiny and great coffee’.__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked the chapter! I'm thinking about Arthur's first day at The Great Dragon being the next chapter? Also thanks so much for all of the kudos and comments, you make me so motivated to write this!
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: I run to you by Lady Antebellum, Night changes by One Direction, Fernando by Cher, Somebody to love by Queen


	7. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur's first day at The Great Dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy watching the one and only once and future king attempt to make coffee!

At 5am on Monday morning Kilgharrah was already on his fifth cigarette. Today would be Arthur’s day at The Great Dragon and hopefully wouldn’t be the last. Kilgharrah was not normally ever nervous, but as he had lost the gift of sight-seeing in this world, it was truly down to himself to make sure destiny took its course and the curse was broken. Arthur and Merlin needed to get on at least, if they couldn’t like each other right away.

Flicking ash, his thoughts were cast back to another predicament: Merlin’s magic or moreover his current lack of magic. During his years of research he had learnt that Merlin’s magic would not be vanquished by the curse, but buried deep inside of him, and Merlin would probably be unaware that he had magic. Maybe he should send Merlin a Hogwarts letter, Kilgharrah chuckled to himself. That seemed to be all the rage with the kids these days. Not that any of the spells worked, as during a particularly boring evening in this life he had tried all of them out and none of them worked. J.K. Rowling was clearly a “muggle” in her own words if she couldn’t even write or use a spell that would even work.

Forcing himself to focus, he debated once again whether to tell Merlin he had magic or not. Kilgharrah could always show him of his own magic to get him to believe and then go from there? Or should he just ask Merlin to try and perform a spell and see what happens?

Kilgharrah reluctantly stubbed his cigarette out and went into his office. He might have once been the great dragon, but right now he had some coffee to bulk order.

***-------________________________-------***

Arthur Pendragon arrived at 5.55am, to not only his surprise but Gwen’s that he was early. She seemed pleasantly surprised to see him as he walked over to greet her.

“Morning Arthur! I’ll be honest, I’m shocked you’re even here, let alone early, welcome!”

Arthur is nonplussed by her comments, as he’s just as surprised at his newfound punctuality as she is,

“Morning Gwen, thank you, I’ll be honest and say I’m surprised I’m early too. Is it just us today?”

A slight frown grows across Gwen’s forehead,

“I don’t think so. Kil’s in his office should you need him, and Merlin’s supposed to be here, which is unusual as he isn’t normally late.”

“It’s probably my fault isn’t it, he already hates me” Arthur comments, feeling slightly guilty.

“Oh don’t worry about it, Merlin needs to get over it as I’m not dealing with petty squabbles. So where do you want to start?” Gwen asks.

“Anywhere” Arthur smiles, and Gwen starts to explain to Arthur how to display all of the food on offer properly.

***-------________________________-------***

At 6.40 a dazed Merlin walks in to see Gwen showing Arthur how to make an espresso for an equally dazed customer in need of a caffeine fix. Gwen catches sight of Merlin and gives him a look that clearly says that they will be having words the second the customer leaves. As the bell jangles with the close of the door, Gwen asks with annoyance,

“So Merlin, did you just want to not show up today or what? A text would have been nice!”

“Well considering I don’t have your number that would have been difficult”, Merlin snaps and winces at his mistake. It isn’t Gwen’s fault that he accidentally-on-purpose forgot to set his alarm as he didn’t want to face Arthur today. Arthur is currently shaking his head at him to stop in an attempt to help him, he thinks confusedly. How unexpected.

“I don’t care, give me your phone” she orders. Arthur and Merlin watch her type furiously into Merlin’s phone and then gives it back to him. Merlin apologises to her and as he goes to put his phone away, he sees a message:

_I get that you don’t want to work with Arthur but if you’re going to pull a sickie next time please just text me. And give him a chance, he was actually here early today. The only person you’ll hurt by not letting this go is you._

Merlin quickly sends a reply before shoving his phone into his pocket:

_Gwen I’m sorry, will do. Fine, but if he makes anymore Tory comments today I’m going to ‘accidentally’ spill iced tea all over him._

Gwen just sighs at the reply and sends a “thumbs up”.

***-------________________________-------***

Arthur is pretty subdued all morning. For starters, he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. Although he’s a coffee drinker, he usually pays absolutely no attention to what other people order or how to make any of the coffees that he drinks. He spends most of the morning do whatever basic tasks Gwen asks him to do or observing Merlin making the coffees he has no idea how to make.

He isn’t really sure why he’s watching Merlin to be honest. Merlin’s only been there a week, and Gwen has been there for 2 years. But there’s something about Merlin that makes him watch Merlin expertly whip up drink after drink without as much as a second thought. Merlin eventually catches Arthur staring at him,

“Something you want to say Arthur?”

Arthur almost jolts out of his thoughts and quickly scrambles to make an excuse,

“Can you show me?”

Merlin scrunches his nose,

“Show you what?”

Arthur’s brain scrabbles to think of something, anything,

“How to make a caramel macchiato. I can’t seem to get the hang of them and they’re my favourite drink.”

Merlin looks at him suspiciously, and then slowly nods.

“Okay fine. First fill up your pitcher with milk”. Arthur obeys and reaches for the milk under the sink and pours some into the pitcher. Arthur waits expectantly.

“Then you need to put fill up your portafilter with espresso, making sure that it’s even”, Merlin orders. Arthur takes care to gently fill up the portafilter, and keeping the level even as he clamps it shut.

“Great. Now you pull the espresso shot, and I’ll boil the milk.” Arthur obeys and watches as Merlin boils the milk. He counts to 30 before putting the espresso into a little pitcher while he waits for the milk to finish.

“Okay now you’re going to pour the espresso into the cup and I’ll pour the milk over the top, okay”, Merlin instructs. His hands shaking slightly, Arthur pours the espresso and Merlin pours in the milk over the top. They’re now standing quite close together, and Arthur can feel his throat going dry.

“What next Merlin?” he manages to croak out. He coughs, it’s really hot in this coffee shop.

“Now we add the caramel pattern on top! We follow the same sort of pattern as Starbucks. I’ll do the first part, and you can finish it”, Merlin says, as he tries to squeeze the caramel onto the coffee. It seems pretty stuck.

“Here, let me help you”, Arthur offers, and before he can think about it, his hands cover Merlin’s and squeeze hard. The caramel pours out in one big lump in the coffee. Arthur decides to break the ice,

“I knew I was going to make a work of art on my first try.”

Merlin laughs so hard he nearly knocks the coffee over.

***-------________________________-------***

By the end of the day, any initial tension that Arthur had caused seems to have gone. When Gwen comes back from her break she laughs almost as hard as Merlin did at Arthur’s coffee, and tells him to drink it, as it’s tradition to drink all practise drinks you make. Arthur isn’t sure if he can ever stomach a caramel macchiato again after that.

They spent the afternoon laughing mainly at Arthur’s expense. Arthur manages to give a customer a latté completely devoid of coffee and manages to burn at least 3 toasties. Merlin and Gwen chorus “Sorry he’s new” after every mistake and start giggling the second the customer leaves. Arthur’s coffee blunders seem to well and truly have broken the ice, as when they leave the shop, and tells them that he’ll see them tomorrow, they both seem happy at the idea of it, as they wave him goodbye.

Any initial worry Arthur had felt about fitting in had vanished. Gwen and Merlin were both brilliant people, and he predicted that they were all going to get along just fine. This summer was going to be one he was going to remember, he was sure of it.

The only thing he wished he could have figured out was why when his hands had touched Merlin’s there was a surge of what felt like electricity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the amazing comments and all of the kudos given! (Please feel free to send more <3) I loved watching Arthur struggle to make coffee in this chapter, it seems the once and future king perhaps isn't destined to be the once and future barista! 
> 
> Next chapter will involve Kilgharrah making an important decision, and more Arthur coffee catastrophes.
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: Everybody wants to rule the world by Tears for Fears and Yellow by Coldplay. I'm not sure if people do listen to the songs but if you do I hope it makes the story more immersive!


	8. Leohtbora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get ready, as things are starting to happen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! This is probably my favourite chapter to write so far, and it's also my longest to date!

The rest of Arthur’s week passed without incident. Actually, that was a lie, Arthur could not have made more mistakes if he tried. He had forgotten syrup in almost every drink that had required one. He had looked blankly when customers had handed back uncooked toasties and had nearly screamed with frustration every time he had forgot to make a drink de-caf. In short, he did not have a natural “gift” of being a barista.

Arthur’s inability to make any drink beyond an espresso had broken the tension between Merlin and Arthur, and by Friday morning, Merlin was only jokingly complaining that he would be stuck with Arthur by himself all day, as Gwen was back to her normal hours now that Merlin had completed his training.

“She says that,” Merlin says to Arthur as they begin to open up, “But I guarantee she’ll be praying in her lecture that we don’t burn the shop down in her absence.” Arthur starts laughing as they start to prepare all of the food in the display window.  Arthur doesn’t mind this part of the day, as it’s something he can actually do without comically messing up. The absence of customers also helps create a relaxed atmosphere, in which he doesn’t feel the pressure not to mess up.

“Kil’s here so I doubt we’ll even get as far as starting a fire without him knowing. I bet he probably has hidden cameras in the shop which he uses to laugh at us” Arthur responds, thinking about that during his most spectacular mistakes he was sure that he could hear coincidental laughing coming from Kil’s office. Merlin snorts,

“Oh please, he’d probably be the one to start it with the amount of cigarettes he smokes. He’s a living ashtray.”

Arthur chuckles, and then winces.

“We have our one-to-ones today. What even is the point of them again?” Merlin shrugs his shoulders indifferently,

“No idea, just to check on us and make sure we’re not planning a mutiny I suppose.”

“What did he say in yours?”

Merlin hesitates before answering. In his one-to-one, Kil had asked him about magic, and if he was honest about himself, it had made him feel uneasy. He had made Merlin feel as if there was something Merlin should know but didn’t, and he couldn’t grasp what it was.

“He just asked about how I’d got on with Gwen and how I was finding it I guess”, Merlin lies. Well, it wasn’t a lie, more of a truth by omission. He didn’t really want Arthur to think he was mad for being so uncomfortable around a conversation about magic. Especially as he didn’t have a reason to be.

“So that’s my chance to privately bitch about you then?” Arthur teases, and shoves Merlin playfully in the shoulder. Privately, Arthur knew he would be singing Merlin’s praises, but he was going to keep up appearances.

“That’s fine with me, I’ll complain about having to constantly work with a Tory wanker” Merlin replies cheekily and ducks out of the way as Arthur aims a slap on his arm.

***-------________________________-------***

“Arthur won’t you please take a seat” Kilgharrah offers as the once and future king takes a seat opposite him. Arthur currently has what appears to be smoothie all over his apron as he gingerly sits down. Without prompt he answers Kilgharrah’s question,

“I forgot to put the lid on the blender.”

Kilgharrah can’t help but chuckle at the sight of him. The most mighty and powerful king that Albion has ever known is currently covered in smoothie as he had forgotten to put the lid on the blender. Seeing any royal look messy is funny, and the indignant expression on Arthur’s face as if he blamed the blender for his mistake makes the situation so much funnier.

“I’m glad to say you’re so enthusiastic in your drink making Arthur”, Kilgharrah says as he types out a note on the computer. _Once and future king is apparently very clumsy with anything that isn’t a sword._

“It’s not my fault, honestly, if Merlin hadn’t been making me laugh so hard I would have remembered” Arthur pouts.

“So you’re blaming Merlin for this mistake?” Kilgharrah asks.

“No, it’s just, grrr, if he hadn’t made me laugh it wouldn’t have happened” Arthur struggles, trying to hold back his frustration.

“I suppose I should be glad that you and Merlin are getting along better than when you first met”, Kilgharrah acknowledges and continues typing. _Arthur is still distracted by Merlin 1000 years later, which is shocking to absolutely no-one._ Arthur’s face seems to soften at this comment,

“Yes we are. I really like the guy, he’s so much funnier than I thought he would be.”

“Indeed, Arthur. How are you finding working with him?” Kilgharrah questions. Arthur’s smile remains in place.

“I like working with him. He’s really patient when he has to teach me things and although he laughs at my mistakes he doesn’t make me feel like an idiot, which is great. His…” Arthur pauses as he looks at Kilgharrah’s expectant expression, “… smile is probably my favourite part of my day”, and he can feel himself going red. That sounded very different to the way he thought it would. He only meant that he enjoyed being with Merlin, not… the way it had come out.

Kilgharrah tried his best to hold back a smirk and nodded politely. Arthur was clearly unaware that feelings were growing, and Kilgharrah was not going to be the one to intervene. Sorting out bisexual crises was not his forte.

“I’m glad to hear it Arthur. How are you getting along with Gwen?” Another big smile crosses Arthur’s face.

“Fantastic. I love her, she is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.”

“What makes her so?” Kilgharrah inquires, as if he wasn’t already aware of this.

“She’s just perfect. She’s kind, patient, gentle, funny and really smart. Gwen’s also one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen. However…” upon seeing the panicked face of Kilgharrah, “… I’m not interested in her, don’t worry. I also think Lancelot would have my head on a plate if I even tried” he chuckles.

Kilgharrah lets out a weak chuckle. He types _nothing to worry about with Gwen just yet_ and nods in satisfaction.

“Is there anything else you’d like to discuss Arthur?” Arthur thinks for a moment. Actually, he’d like to ask whether Kilgharrah really does have secret cameras, but figures that would be stupid.

“I don’t think so, no.”

“In that case, I think this concludes our one-to-one. Please send Merlin in”, Kilgharrah commands, and Arthur rises from his chair. Kilgharrah quickly adds,

“Oh and Arthur. Should you ever need anything, I hope you know that I am here.”

Arthur seems as though as he is going to make a comment, but thinks twice before shutting the door behind him.

***-------________________________-------***

Kilgharrah exhales deeply as the door closes. All week he has been debating whether to make a big decision, and he has decided to make it. Today, during his one-to-one, he is going to tell Merlin about magic.

The risk Kilgharrah is taking is huge. He knows fully that should Merlin not believe him, or walk away from the coffee shop that the curse will never be broken. Memories will not be restored, and Kilgharrah will be destined to remain human for the rest of his days. Regardless of his own magic, he knows that he cannot destroy the curse. Through all of his years of searching, he has only found one way to break the curse.

***-------________________________-------***

“… So yeah I think it’s been a pretty good week”, Merlin sums up. Merlin had recounted to Kilgharrah the amount of mistakes Arthur had made, and had laughed many times while explaining them to Kilgharrah.

“There is hope for the two of you after all then” Kil wonders out loud, and Merlin scoffs.

“You scoff Merlin, but only last week you said you would never work with him and here you are laughing at his mistakes and getting along well. He’s not really that bad, is he Merlin?” Kil taunts, as Merlin mumbles an “I suppose.” Ordinarily, Kilgharrah would sing Arthur’s praises to Merlin and celebrate more, but he has more pressing matters to turn to.

“Merlin, how much do you trust me?”

Merlin narrows his eyes at Kil,

“I’m not sure. Why are you asking?”

“I need to tell you something, and I’m asking if you will listen and wait until I’m done before saying anything. Would you be able to do that?”

Merlin nods suspiciously,

“I guess so.”

Kilgharrah takes a deep breath. This is his one chance.

“Merlin, magic is real. Real as the sky and the sea, the earth and the wind, you and me. I know this because I have magic and so do you.”

Merlin laughs shakily. He can’t be serious.

“Kil, I have nothing against your beliefs, but magic is not real. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not.”

Kilgharrah frantically searches the room for inspiration. He spots his cigarettes, grabs them, and sits back down.

“Merlin I’m asking you to watch this. Please.” Kilgharrah lifts a cigarette, his own hands shaking, and focuses on the cigarette.

_“Leohtbara”._ The cigarette catches light. Merlin jumps back in his chair. His eyes are full of wonder, as he watches the cigarette burn. He has so many questions he feels as if his head is going to explode, but one thought keeps pulsing through his brain. _Magic is real, magic is real, magic is real._

“So magic is real” Merlin reiterates waveringly. He has just seen magic happen with his own two eyes. All of the stories, the legends are true. Magic really does exist.

“Indeed it is Merlin. Now,” Kilgharrah stubs out the cigarette, and pulls out a fresh one, “It is your turn. You heard the spell, it is your turn to light the cigarette.”

Merlin looks at him and the cigarette in total disbelief,

“You can’t be serious, I’m not a magician Kil, and I can’t do it! Just because I have a stupid name doesn’t mean I can do magic!” Merlin exclaims, tears welling in his eyes. He is not going to be humiliated for trying again, especially not in front of his manager. Kilgharrah lays a hand on Merlin’s arm,

“Focus Merlin. I know you can do this. Concentrate on lighting the cigarette, and nothing else. If nothing happens, it doesn’t matter, I just want you to try your best. I believe in you, Merlin Emrys.” Kilgharrah encourages. This is enough to make him want to cry, the great Emrys not believing he can perform a simple fire spell.

Merlin clears his mind, and concentrates on the cigarette. He visualises the cigarette lighting up, and closes his eyes.

_“Leohtbara.”_

The cigarette is burning.

***-------________________________-------***

Kilgharrah spontaneously bursts into tears and hugs Merlin hard. Under normal circumstances he would never usually be so affectionate with anyone, but for the first time in 19 years he has seen the possibility of freedom from the curse from everyone. He can feel Merlin’s shoulder’s shaking, and as Merlin pulls away, he can see tears in Merlin’s eyes.

“Kil, I don’t understand, what does this mean? What is this, why do I have magic, and why did you know? Does anyone else know?”

Kilgharrah sighs. Now for the difficult part.

“No-one else knows except for me and you Merlin. There is an explanation, but as with the magic, I need you to keep an open mind”.

“After that? I’m pretty sure nothing can shock me.”

Try me, Kilgharrah thinks, and decides to just be completely honest,

“Merlin we’re all under a curse. All of our memories of our previous lives have been taken away, and it is up to you to break the curse, so we can all be free and to remember.”

Merlin whistles under his breath. Of all the things he expected Kil to say, this wasn’t one of them.

“Wait, so, I have a previous life? I have memories I don’t know about? Wait a minute, if everyone’s memories got taken away, how do you remember?” Merlin accuses.

“I wasn’t human in my past life, so the curse did not work on me, other than to turn me into a human.” Merlin chortles at this,

“So what were you, a fairy or something?”

“Close enough”, Kilgharrah muses. Well, he did have wings after all.

“So how is this going to work then? Am I meant to just break the curse now I know I have magic or something?” Merlin queries. Kilgharrah shakes his head.

“Absolutely not Merlin! You need to train, start using spells again and master basic magic before you can even think about breaking the curse.”

“How long is this going to take? How long was I doing magic for in my past life?”

“Since you were born”.

Merlin looks defeated, so Kilgharrah offers some words of encouragement.

“There is no need to be defeated Merlin. Magic for you and I is like muscle memory, when you start using it again it will start to come naturally. Follow your instincts and you will not be able to go wrong. For the time being though,” Kilgharrah searches through his drawers, “you may do well to start looking through this.” Kilgharrah passes him a thin book titled _Spells_.

“What an inventive name” Merlin quips, and Kilgharrah ignores the comment.

“This is a book of basic spells I compiled for you, in the event you wanted to practise your magic again, for even the most skilled warlocks always have new spells to learn. Please practise them in your spare time.”

Merlin puts the book in his satchel and then pauses.

“What about my mum? Surely she’s going to freak out a fair bit if she comes home to things flying around the living room.”

Kilgharrah considers this,

“You may tell your mother of your magic, but absolutely no-one else. It is vital that no-one finds out you have magic while you are still learning how to control it.”

“So I should only practise at my house?” Merlin asks and earns a nod from Kilgharrah.

“Or my office, with the door shut if no-one else is around.”

Merlin leans back in his seat. The last thing he expected to happen today was to find out that he had magic, let alone that there was a curse to break.

“This is a lot to take in Kil. And I’m supposed to act normal around the others, as if nothing has happened?”

“I’m sorry Merlin, but it’s for the best. Please believe that I have your best interests at heart.”

After a minute of silence, they hear a crash from outside. Merlin winces, wondering what mess he’s going to come outside to.

“I guess I’d better get back to Arthur. I’ll let you know how I’m getting on, okay?” Merlin reassures as he gets up from his seat. Kilgharrah smiles enthusiastically.

“Please do Merlin, and ask me if you get stuck on anything”. Merlin promises he will and leaves Kilgharrah alone in the office.

***-------________________________-------***

As Kilgharrah sits alone in his office, he reflects on how well his meetings with both Merlin and Arthur went that afternoon. Everything was starting to fall into place, with the curse breaking seeming more and more likely with each passing day. The only chink in the armour was that he could not tell Merlin or Arthur the real way the curse was to be broken.

  _Perambulaturum et memoria perdit- a curse to strip your enemies of their memories and to transport them through time. In order to cast this curse you will need a lock of Sidhe hair, wolfs bane and the heart of the person you love most. This curse cannot be reversed once cast, so be sure only to cast it if it is your truest desire, otherwise it will not work._

_The only known way to break this curse is true love’s kiss from two people who truly loved each other in both the first world and have fallen in love and truly love each other in the cursed world._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so important to write, as it contained both the magic reveal, and the only way to break the curse! (If you watch OUAT I'm sure it wasn't such as much of a surprise.) Thank you so much for the kudos and comments, I appreciate every single one of them!
> 
> Next chapter will definitely contain some Merlin trying out his new magic, and some more confused Arthur!
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: True Love by Coldplay, A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, Some Might Say by Oasis


	9. Blóstmá

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin is starting to practice magic again, Arthur is confused, and Gwen, as ever is the only smart one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the chapter! It's a bit shorter than the last one but if you like fluff, I think you'll enjoy it a lot.

“Merlin is there something you’d like to tell me?” Arthur asks Merlin on Tuesday morning while Gwen is on her break. Merlin’s been acting differently since he left Kil’s office on Friday, and Arthur is determined to find out why.

“What are you talking about?” Merlin answers neutrally. Arthur notices that Merlin is trying not to give away anything by his facial expression, and isn’t convinced.

“You know what. You’ve been acting really quiet since you left Kil’s office on Friday, have I done something wrong?”

“No, it’s not you”, Merlin responds quietly. Arthur knows he should feel relieved that he hasn’t done anything to upset Merlin, but for some reason this irks him more.

“Has Kil done something? Do you want me to go and talk to him?” Arthur offers, already preparing himself for an argument.

“No, it’s not his fault. I just have a lot to think about right now”, Merlin answers honestly. Arthur can tell this is as far as he is going to get today, and resolves to leave it for the time being.

“Right, of course. I’m here if you want any help though Merlin”, Arthur says, and for the first time in days a genuine smile crosses Merlin’s face.

***-------________________________-------***

Merlin hated sneaking around. He honestly did, and sneaking around Arthur and Gwen is something he never signed up for when he agreed to work for The Great Dragon, yet here he was. If he was completely honest, he didn’t see why he couldn’t tell them that he had magic, even if they didn’t believe him. However, he supposed he was just going to have to trust Kil that there was good reason why they shouldn’t find out.

Kil was another issue that was on his mind. Merlin believed him that they were under a curse, but he didn’t believe that Kil had told him everything that he knew. If Kil truly did remember all of their old lives, he had to know why the curse hadn’t already been broken, and why Kil couldn’t have broken the curse himself. Merlin was aware that the curse needed to involve him, and for some reason Kil thought it was best not to tell him why it did. Perhaps it involved sacrifice, or for Merlin to do something he didn’t agree with. Either way, he knew that Kil was keeping secrets from him.

Magic however, was one thing he didn’t hate. He had been studying and practising Kil’s book of spells all weekend, and any spare moment he had. The book never left his sight for long, and Merlin had already worked out how to cast a shield spell on the book so that no-one except him would be able to see it. Merlin had practised the fire spell and had also learned the shield spell and had practised a sleeping spell on his mother unknowingly.

The next spell he was trying to master was a simple spell to make a flower. Merlin was sitting behind the shop on his break, on what felt like his hundredth attempt to make a flower come out of his hand.

“ _Blóstmá”_ Merlin whispered. Again, nothing happened. He wanted to scream with frustration, why was it so hard to create a bloody flower? He took a deep breath. Kil had told him that magic was about reaching inside of himself and focussing on what he wanted to create with the magic. So, who would he want to give a flower to?

As Merlin’s mind wandered, the door slammed open, and without thinking Merlin whispered “ _Blótsmá”_ and quickly turned around to see Arthur grinning at him.

“Can I not even have my break in peace Arthur?” Merlin groans dramatically, waiting for Arthur to get riled up. Arthur rolls his eyes,

“Oh I’m sorry MERlin are you working too hard?” Arthur scoffs, before noticing Merlin’s tightly closed fist,

“What do you have in your hand?”

Merlin unclenches his hand slowly, and finds a lilac rose. He tries not to shout in delight that he’s mastered the spell and also in confusion that the rose is lilac. Maybe it’s a side effect of the spell, or he didn’t get it quite right? Either way, he has to quickly think of an explanation to stop Arthur’s bemused expression getting worse.

“I found it?” Merlin answers, although it sounds more like a question than an answer. Arthur remains unconvinced.

“You found that lying around? It’s purple Merlin!” Arthur laughs in disbelief. Without thinking, Merlin offers it to Arthur,

“Here, you can have it if you want.” Arthur’s face grows soft as he gently takes the purple rose from Merlin’s hand.

“Are you sure?”

“I have no use for it so go for it” Merlin answers. Arthur mumbles a quick “thanks” and walks back inside with the flower in his hand. Merlin releases the breath he didn’t even realise he was holding in. Crisis averted, thank god.

***-------________________________-------***

Arthur walked back into the shop with a big smile on his face. He really didn’t know why he was so happy, it was just a flower. But it happened to be the prettiest flower he had ever seen, he didn’t even know that roses could be lilac! He wasn’t sure he believed that Merlin had just “found” the flower, but with the mood that Merlin was in at the moment, questioning him further would have been pointless.

Arthur twirled the flower around in his hands. Maybe it was because he had never received flowers from anyone, and had only given people flowers before that was the reason he was so happy. His thoughts were interrupted by a soothing voice,

“Where did you get that from?”

Gwen was looking into his hands at the flower. He should probably offer it to Gwen, as she definitely deserved flowers, but oddly he couldn’t bring himself to.

“Merlin gave it to me”.

Gwen smiles knowingly. Arthur probably isn’t aware of it, but his smile could currently stretch from Glastonbury to Scotland right now.

“That was nice of him! Are you going to wear it?”

“Wear it how? I don’t have hair long enough to put it in a plait Gwen” Arthur frowns as Gwen laughs at him.

“No, like this”, Gwen demonstrates, by tucking the flower into his name badge. She expertly tucks the leaves behind the pin so that the flower is on show but secured by the pin. Gwen nods in satisfaction, and whips her phone out,

“Let me take a picture! So you can see how cute you look!” she says laughing as Arthur groans at the word ‘cute.’

“I’m not meant to be ‘cute’ Gwen” Arthur rolls his eyes, but he looks at the picture Gwen has taken anyway, and his heart swells with pride. Somehow Merlin’s flower looks perfect pinned with the name badge, and he doesn’t want to take it off.

“I’ll say it was my idea, I don’t want you to lose your pride Arthur to admit you like the flower” Gwen teases, but both of them know that there is truth behind the teasing.

“Thank you Gwen, I’ll forever be in your debt”, Arthur bows. Despite the over-exaggerated nature of the bow, Arthur means every word he is saying. He still isn’t quite sure why the flower means so much to him, but he’s sure that Gwen knows somehow.

Arthur is sure he’ll figure it out, but at the moment he is just grateful for Gwen’s understanding nature and friendship. She truly is one in a lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also the colour of Merlin's rose wasn't a coincidence... if you want to look that up.
> 
> Next chapter will involve more magic, more confusion and Arthur texting an old friend.
> 
> Thank you for all comments and kudos on this story, all of them motivate me to write more of the story! 
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: REM by Ariana Grande, Lost Boy by Troye Sivan and Seventeen by Troye Sivan


	10. When Lance met Arthur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur meets Lance for the first time, and things get interesting... Also sorry but no magic this chapter folks, will 100% be happening next chapter! Besides, this chapter contains a different kind of magic :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in 2 days? Who am I?

The next morning, Gwen phones in sick, and like the gentleman he is, Lance immediately offered to cover her. Merlin had protested that he and Arthur would be fine, but Lance insisted that he come in to cover Gwen anyway.

“Besides Merlin,” Lance teases, “I really needed to meet the ‘Tory wanker’ as you so lovingly described him to Gwen.” Merlin winces,

“You can’t say that to his face!”

“Can’t I?” Lance retorts, and then laughs at the expression on Merlin’s face. “I’m only joking Merlin, I literally know nothing about the guy other than what Gwen’s told me and your nickname.”

“What’s Gwen told you?”

“She told me he’s probably the worst barista in the history of The Great Dragon and recounted many of his mistakes to me” he answers, then frowns. “She actually talks about him quite a lot. She said underneath all the bravado he’s really a sweetheart.”

Merlin shakes his head,

“Lance you have nothing to worry about, honestly. Arthur’s…”

“Arthur’s what?” Arthur interrupts, and walks into the shop. He eyes up the guy Merlin’s talking to. Tall, handsome, dark hair, dark eyes, clearly works out. Basically the ideal guy according to anyone ever. The other man also appears to be sizing him up, although Arthur has no idea why, as all he’s done is step into the shop. Their eyes meet for a moment, and the other man makes the first move to hold out a hand,

“I’m Lance, you must be Arthur?”

Arthur shakes Lance’s hand. Lance has a very firm grip, whether this is to intimidate him or natural, he isn’t sure which.

“That would be right, it’s nice to finally meet you. Gwen talks about you all the time.” Relief seems to flood Lance’s face as he breaks into a smile.

“Likewise. I hear your barista skills could need some improving?” Merlin snorts at this, and replies,

“That’s putting it politely, he’s so shit at times I could swear he’s doing it on purpose just so I help him.” Arthur’s cheeks turn pink, which does not go unnoticed by Lance, who is curiously watching Arthur for a response.

“Shut up Merlin. At least I do some work instead of spending my breaks picking flowers!”

“A flower which you wore.”

“Which Gwen forced me to wear.”

“Which you wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for me!”

“Ladies” Lance loudly interrupts and they both fall silent. “If we could both actually start preparing the food for the day rather than bickering that would be great.”

“Yes Lance” they reply in unison.

***-------________________________-------***

The morning passes quite uneventfully, except for Arthur managing to get squirty cream all over his hands after almost every Frappuccino he makes, and managing to start an argument with a middle-aged man over his mocha.

“IT’S THE SAME THING” Arthur roars back at the man arguing that he ordered a mocha and what he received was a cappuccino. “THEY BOTH HAVE CHOCOLATE IN THEM, THEY LOOK THE SAME!”

“NO IT’S NOT! A MOCHA ONLY HAS STEAMED MILK WHEREAS A CAPUCCINO HAS STEAMED AND HOT MILK!” the man clutching his cappuccino yells back.

“SAME BLOODY DIFFERENCE! IF YOU LIKE IT SO MUCH, MAKE IT YOURSELF!” Arthur bellows. Lance decides to watch in amusement as Merlin coming back from his break, immediately interferes.

“What the fuck is going on?” Merlin asks with annoyance. Before Arthur has a chance to defend himself, the customer clamours;

“ALL I WANTED WAS A SODDING MOCHA, BUT HE GOT THE ORDER WRONG AND THEN TOLD ME TO MAKE IT MYSELF IF I DIDN’T LIKE IT!”

Lance stifles a laugh as Merlin merely raises an eyebrow at Arthur and sighs,

“I’ll make you a mocha. I’m sorry about my colleague, he’s new to customer service and doesn’t realise that the customer is always right.” The customer nods in triumph as Arthur begins,

“BUT…” and is immediately silenced by a look from Merlin that says if he says another word he is going to be in serious trouble. Merlin hands the customer a perfectly made mocha, and the customer storms out. He turns to Arthur,

“I don’t even want to know what just happened. Can you take your break now and cool off?” Arthur nods and obediently walks outside of the shop.

“I’ll go with him”, Lance volunteers, and follows Arthur out of The Great Dragon.

***-------________________________-------***

“Why did you follow me?” Arthur asks Lance as they sit down outside the shop. He truly thought Lance, like Merlin had taken an instant dislike to him, although on this occasion he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I figured you might have wanted someone to take your mind off that customer. Also to get to know you for myself. Although I trust Gwen’s judgement above all others, I want to make my own opinion of you.”

Arthur laughs awkwardly. It almost feels like he’s sitting an exam.

“Well what do you want to know Lance?”

“How about why did you decide to work here? No offence but you don’t seem like you need the money”, Lance nods to Arthur’s ray-bans. At least this question he can answer, Arthur thinks to himself.

“Oh! Well for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I’m donating my wages to a homelessness project that really needs help. Secondly, to settle an old debt between Kil and my father”, his face saddening slightly at the last reason.

“That’s awesome about the charity work! Can I ask what the old debt is?” Lance says, genuinely curious. Arthur takes a deep breath,

“Before I was born, this used to be a magic shop. Kil will probably never talk about it because it’s a sensitive subject. My father’s quite high up in the health and safety industry, and one day he got a call that Kil was selling objects that weren’t safe and he wasn’t complying with health and safety standards. There was enough evidence for my father to shut the shop down completely”, Arthur explains. Lance whistles underneath his breath,

“No wonder Kil gave you the job, no offence. Free labour from your father’s son as revenge for what he did. I can’t believe he did that” Lance replies, only imagining how enraged Kil would have been. He shudders.

“I know my father seems harsh but that’s just his way. He wants things in perfect order, and I think with my mother being pregnant at the time, he just took the stress out on the wrong person.”

“What does your mother think?”

“She’s dead”, Arthur replies shortly. “She died giving birth to me.” A silence ensues. Arthur can feel himself freezing up. He never talks about his mother, not even to his father, as deep down he knows he is to blame for her death. If he was never born, she’d still be alive. Lance squeezes his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“I’m sorry Arthur. But don’t blame yourself, it’s not your fault”, Lance says gently, almost as if he can read Arthur’s thoughts. Arthur smiles gratefully,

“Shall we change the subject? What is going on between you and Gwen?” Arthur nudges, genuinely smiling now.

“Me and Gwen? I thought you two had something going on by how much she talks about you!” Lance replies incredulously. Arthur laughs fondly,

“No we don’t. We’re more like Harry and Hermione than Ron and Hermione. Gwen is a great girl, but she’s more like a best friend than anything else.” Lance considers this and thinks for a moment. His face breaks into a smile,

“That makes sense then.”

“What does?”

“Why you’ve still got that flower attached to your name badge.”

“What do you mean?”

“At first I thought it was because Gwen put it there. Now I see clearly, it’s because Merlin gave it to you” Lance proclaims triumphantly. Arthur can feel fear building up inside him,

“Lance I don’t understand…”

“You like Merlin! God how I could be so dense when it’s so plain to see!”

“Plain to see?”

“Between you and me, I think you two would make a great couple! But my break’s almost over so I better go back inside. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything!” Lance reassures cheerily, clapping Arthur on the shoulder before walking back inside.

***-------________________________-------***

The second Lance leaves, Arthur can feel himself panicking. He doesn’t really like Merlin, does he? How could he, he barely knows anything about him! He doesn’t even know Merlin has a last name, does he even have one? This can’t all just be because he’s still wearing the flower Merlin gave him.

_Or that you love seeing Merlin laugh_ , his brain reminds him. _Or that you play up the mistakes you make because you love Merlin helping you, and having an excuse to touch his hands. Or that you think you’ll burst every time he smiles at you. Maybe all this panic is because you still can’t admit you like bot-._

Arthur shakily types out a text:

_James, I need your help._

The reply comes quickly.

_Don’t call me James you idiot, that’s my Dad’s name, not mine. At least use my real name if you’re going to ask me for help._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter! Next chapter we will find out who the mysterious James is, and Arthur's ongoing internal crisis will continue. Magical times will also be happening!
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos and comments, I value each and every one of them, and they motivate me to write every single time.
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: Night changes by One Direction, So Close by Jon McLaughlin


	11. Don't call me James

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and Arthur are both having crises of different nature featuring Gwen being the supportive angel we all know she is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy the chapter and finding out who James is!

_James: You can’t call me James, Arthur it’s an old man’s name_

_Arthur: And Arthur isn’t?_

_James: Whatever_

_Arthur: Fine then, Sir Gwaine, I need your help_

_Gwaine: That’s more like it, what’s up princess?_

_Arthur: This guy Merlin at my workplace_

_Gwaine: Merlin and Arthur? HAHAHAHA_

_Gwaine: I hope you’re not joking as that’s hilarious_

_Gwaine: Go on_

_Arthur: Basically I feel really confused about him and I don’t know why_

_Gwaine: Do you want to bone him?_

_Arthur: That was blunt_

_Gwaine: No point beating around the bush, if you want to fuck him just ask_

_Arthur: That’s easy for you to say_

_Gwaine: Too right because I banged pretty much everyone in sixth form, including you princess. Seriously, is the trouble just asking if he wants to bang, because I can just text him from your phone and if he reacts badly just blame me loool_

_Arthur: I do want to, but I think I want to do more than that, I think I genuinely like him Gwaine. He’s sweet and funny and makes me smile and I’ve never felt like this about anyone._

_Gwaine: You’ve seriously never felt anything like this for any of the girls you shagged? Or me? Wow Arthur I’m wounded_

_Arthur: Haha._

_Gwaine: I’m messing around. Has he got facebook?_

_Gwaine: Nevermind, found him on your friends list._

_Gwaine: Holy shit he’s gorgeous._

_Gwaine: Just kidding princess, I wouldn’t do that to you. I can see why you’d like him. So why do you want my help again?_

_Arthur: I just don’t know what to say to him! If he reacts weirdly I’ve still got to work with him and I think I’d die of pure embarrassment._

_Gwaine: You could try just telling him; that normally works._

_Arthur: Again, if he doesn’t like me, I’ll look like an idiot. He might not even like guys!_

_Gwaine: He clearly does but okay fine. How about you just bring up guys and girls to him and see how he reacts?_

_Arthur: That’s actually a good idea, thank you._

_Gwaine: No problem princess, glad I could help! Let me know what he says_ _J_

Merlin remained oblivious to Arthur’s internal conflict, as he had bigger issues to sort out, namely his magic. He was steadily working his way through the book that Kil had given him, but as Kil had not been in the office all week, he had no-one to answer his questions. Some spells seemed to come more naturally to him than others, he guessed it may have been because he had used them in the past, whereas some spells he couldn’t seem to get to work at all. He wondered if some were meant to be more advanced than others, and which ones he should be trying first.

“What are you reading?” asks Gwen on Thursday afternoon. Arthur had left the shop early, meaning it was just Gwen and Merlin. As it was a slow afternoon, both Merlin and Gwen were amusing themselves during the slump. Merlin had enchanted the book to read “Beginner’s guide to medicine” so if anyone without magic attempted to read the book the pages would contain volumes of medicinal terms. He had unsuccessfully been trying to non-verbally use a heating spell on his feet, and had sworn under his breath.

“Beginner’s guide to medicine. Some of it might as well have been written in another language Gwen, I can’t seem to get the hang of it”, Merlin replies truthfully. Gwen smiles sympathetically,

“I think I’d be just as lost as you Merlin! What are you trying to understand?”

“A heating spe- speciality. I just don’t understand how to do it”, Merlin grumbles. He wishes he could just tell Gwen that it’s a spell, but he needs to trust Kil that no-one should know about his magic just yet, even if Gwen is probably the most harmless person he’s ever met. Gwen peers at the paper.

“It’s a breathing technique?” Gwen questions. Merlin skims the book now that Gwen is holding it, and glances at the instructions.

“Yeah, I’m not really sure how to do it without looking stupid”, he answers truthfully. Gwen laughs,

“How about we do it together?” she offers. Merlin nods in agreement.

“Okay, so all we need to do is take 10 deep breaths in and out of our nose, rest for 5 seconds and then repeat another 10” Gwen informs Merlin. Merlin decides to try the spell while he does the breathing exercise, after all, it can’t hurt.

“Let’s start in 10?” Merlin offers, counting down with his fingers. They both close their eyes. Merlin can feel himself breath in and out of his nose, counting 10 breaths. When it gets to the break, he looks at his feet and thinks _Ahatian_. To his delight, his feet warm up. He closes his eyes and continues the other 10 breaths.

“Wow Merlin it really worked, your cheeks are rosy red!” Gwen grins, and gently touches his cheek. Merlin glows with pleasure.

“Thank you so much Gwen, there’s no way I could have cracked it without you!” he exclaims and gives her a hug which she happily returns.

“That’s what friends are for Merlin!” she beams.

***-------________________________-------***

Gwen was very sure of two things. Firstly, she could trust Lance to tell the truth, no matter what. Secondly, that although Merlin was clever enough to study medicine, in other areas he was utterly clueless. Which is why she decided to quiz Merlin on Arthur, knowing that Lance would not have lied to her about Arthur’s confusion, so she was curious to find out whether Merlin had a similar confusion.

“So have your feelings changed around Arthur?” she calls as Merlin returns from bringing over a customer’s order to their table. Merlin looks at her blankly.

“I’m not sure what you mean by that Gwen?” he answers, confusion plain in his voice. Gwen presses on,

“Well at first you hated him, and now you seem to be becoming friendlier with him, I just wondered if anything had changed?”

“We’re friends now Gwen, is there anything that is meant to have changed?” Merlin questions. Gwen shakes her head in disagreement, trying to keep the disappointed expression off her face.

“No, no of course not Merlin, I was just checking that everything was alright between you both”, she explains, hoping that Merlin will not probe her further. He smiles at her and turns to start loading the dishwasher. Gwen sighs and pulls out her phone

_Gwen: Just as I thought, Merlin only thinks of him as a friend. He seemed confused that he was meant to think of him as anything other than a friend._

Lance’s reply is instant.

_Lance: Damn, this was one of the times I was truly hoping you were wrong. Still, its early days, and I doubt Arthur is planning on doing anything yet._

_Gwen: He won’t be silent forever, Lance. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt._

_Lance: Don’t worry Gwen, we’ll be here for both of them if anything happens._

_Gwen: :-)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so fun to write, I loved Gwaine and Arthur's texting conversation, I feel like Gwaine would be just as blunt over text as in real life. Also in this universe, Gwaine and Arthur have slept together... which will be interesting to fathom out! Next chapter we will see Arthur trying to take Gwaine's advice, and the aftermath of that! Kilgharrah will be back soon, I miss him
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos and comments, we are now at 1000 hits! I'm glad you're all loving the story!
> 
> Song that inspired this chapter: The Spirit of Excalibur and Merlin's Secret by Enaid


	12. Sir Gwaine's Counsel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur takes Gwaine's advice. And where in the world has Kilgharrah been?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has taken so long to upload! I hope you enjoy the chapter, it was so enjoyable to write!

Friday arrived and so did Kilgharrah from his absence, which he had already decided he was going to explain to no-one. Kilgharrah simply told Gwen to meet him in his office at 10 for the weekly catch ups, and had stalked into his office before she could interrogate him further.

He breathed a sigh of relief at the calm of his office. The truth is, he had been anything but busy during his week off. First he had spent the first 3 days studying all of the ancient spell-books and manuscripts he could find from the Camelot days, to make sure that he was absolutely sure there was no other way to break the curse, and sure enough there wasn’t. He was confident that true love’s kiss would not be an issue, even if it would take longer than the usual antidotes, although it was far less easy to predict. Yesterday he decided to wander through Glastonbury Tor in search of Morgana.

Kilgharrah snorted. Even to his own ears, that sounded ridiculous. However, he needed to make sure that the witch was still alive, for if Morgana was dead, there was a small chance the curse would be broken. Sure enough, when he stepped into the Excalibur Café, he had seen with his own two eyes that the witch was still breathing. Kilgharrah had meticulously scanned all of the baristas, wondering if they were other known sorcerers or warlocks that she had enlisted to help her. To his surprise, they were normal people with no magical presence, and had politely asked him if he had needed anything. Kilgharrah had shook his head and hurried out of the shop before Morgana could spot him.

Kilgharrah wasn’t stupid either. He was aware that Morgana probably knew he was still alive, as she was still Arthur’s sibling in this world and would have heard his name. He wasn’t sure what the relationship was between her and Uther, but he had heard Arthur speak of her fondly to the others. Which meant that Kilgharrah could definitely not make any move to kill her, or he would risk losing Arthur, and there was no guarantee the curse would break. Meaning, he had to content himself with the fact that Mordred was nowhere to be seen in this world. He guessed that Mordred had paid the price for Morgana’s curse, as the thing she loved most, and remained dead. At least he didn’t have to worry about Mordred ruining his plans this time.

He checked the time. 9.58. Gwen walked into the room with her usual smile. He returned it, reminded once again of how Gwen's kindness had not changed over the course of over 1000 years.

***-------________________________-------***

Arthur didn’t get nervous. His father taught him from a young age to act as though he was a king, to be proud and to never show nerves. However, trying to suppress his nerves to ask Merlin whether he liked guys was proving difficult, as even for Arthur he had been clumsy. He had already spilt 2 drinks, got 3 orders wrong and had burnt a toastie.

“What is with you this morning?” Merlin exclaims as Arthur spilt the second coffee all over his apron. Arthur chose to ignore him and attempted to clean his apron, trying to suppress both his blushing and his shaking hands. After making the customer a replacement drink, Merlin turns to face Arthur with his arms folded.

“Well?”

“Well what, Merlin?” Arthur scowls, internally telling himself to keep cool.

“Do you want to explain why you are making more mistakes than normal and have been quiet all morning?” Merlin asks. Arthur racks his brain, looking for an explanation.

“I’m nervous that Gwen is only in to meet Kilgharrah and about managing the shop”, Arthur offers as more of a question than a statement. He regrets this immediately as he sees the hurt on Merlin’s face.

“I thought we made a good team?” Merlin replies with a twinge of sadness in his voice. Arthur curses his own stupidity.

“No, no, it’s not that! It’s nothing, I’m just not feeling confident today” Arthur answers truthfully. Well, semi-truthfully he thinks to himself. Merlin seems to relax, and squeezes his arm sympathetically.

“Arthur we all have days like this, why didn’t you just tell me?” Merlin asks softly. Arthur tries not to think about Merlin’s hand on his arm, and keeps his voice steady,

“My father always tells me to never show weakness and to stand tall and proud. It’s like he thinks we’re royalty or something.” Merlin winces at the remark,

“There’s nothing wrong with being proud of who you are Arthur, and admitting you’re human just like everyone else.”

“And you? Are you proud of who you are?” Arthur queries without thinking. Merlin seems temporarily surprised by the question, but nods.

“Yes I would say so. I’ve found some parts of me difficult to accept, but I’m working on that,” he replies, thinking of his magic. He does accept his magic, embraces it even, but in a world that doesn’t believe magic is real, it is still taking some getting used to.

“What parts, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Merlin freezes. Shit. He can’t tell Arthur he has magic, he’ll think he’s insane. Merlin thinks of something else he can say. Perhaps his sexuality, even though he’s fairly comfortable with that. He hadn’t planned to tell Arthur this early, but he guessed it was now or never.

“I wasn’t always okay with liking guys”, Merlin admits. This period of time was thankfully short-lived, as both his mother and Will’s support had meant that his acceptance was much quicker than other people he had known.

“How did you know?” Arthur asks, and blushes immediately afterwards. How direct did he want to be? Merlin goes a little pink at the intimacy of the question, but answers,

“Same way most people do I guess. When most boys were talking about how hot and incredible girls were, I just never joined in. Then when I saw Hunter Parrish, I realised that shit, I think I like guys”, Merlin laughs. Arthur stares, mesmerised that Merlin could be so confident in liking men.

“What about you then?” Merlin inquires, wiggling his eyebrows. Arthur’s defences go up before he can stop them,

“What about me?” he retorts sharply, and cringes at the bite of his tone. Merlin remains patient,

“Who are you into?”

Arthur almost wants to laugh at this question. _You_ , he thinks to himself. He looks at Merlin’s expectant face and internally sighs. If Merlin is brave enough to be himself, so should he.

“Men and women I think. I don’t know. I’ve only been with one guy, and I liked it so both I guess” he says tentatively. The words are out in the open. There’s no turning back. Merlin breaks into a big smile,

“That wasn’t so hard was it? Well done!” Merlin wraps his arms around Arthur in a tight hug. Arthur closes his eyes and presses his nose into Merlin’s hair. Merlin smells like nature, as if he’s spent all day running through a forest. He’s aware that they have never done this before, but Merlin in his arms feels familiar. It feels like he’s home.

***-------________________________-------***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the absence! I've started university and the workload is a lot bigger than I thought it would be! I promise I am going to try and get this story at least half way finished by Christmas! Also the easter egg with Hunter Parrish being Merlin's first crush is because he looks quite a lot like Bradley James.
> 
> Next chapter: Merlin and Kilgharrah discuss magic, coffee and Arthur, oh my! 
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me, kudos and comments are always appreciated :)


	13. Coffee, magic and Arthur, oh my!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Gwen deal with a strange customer, Kilgharrah grills, he means asks, how Merlin is doing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I hope you enjoy this chapter, Kilgharrah attempting to be an agony aunt was fun

Kilgharrah’s office door opening broke Merlin and Arthur apart. Gwen smiled knowingly at them both,

“Merlin, Kil wants to see you!”

“Thanks Gwen”, Merlin smiled and walked towards Kil’s office, shutting the door behind him. Gwen raised an eyebrow at Arthur’s rosy cheeks,

“Arthur you aren’t exactly subtle, are you?”

“How did you.... oh” Arthur realises. Lance. Of course he would tell Gwen.

“I think it’s quite sweet!” Gwen teases.

“Men aren’t supposed to be ‘sweet’ Gwen. Sweet is for rabbits or small dogs,” Arthur replies grumpily. He isn’t a six year old girl or a puppy.

“Arthur it’s the 21st century, men can be whatever they want to be! Besides,” Gwen smirks, “I guarantee you still have the flower.” Arthur tries to say no but he can’t meet Gwen’s eyes.

“Maybe… but that fact is entirely irrelevant to the point in hand”, he proclaims. Gwen nods, clearly humouring him.

“Have you told him?”

“Told him what?”

“You’re the king of England. No, that you like him!”

“Gwen it’s not going to happen, he doesn’t see me like that, and we work together, I don’t want to make it weird for everyone,” Arthur explains. Gwen attempts to hide her surprise. Arthur seems like a nice guy, but honestly she expected him to do whatever he wanted and expect the others to follow his orders. Arthur being considerate is not a side to him she thought he had. Or that he ever showed to anyone.

“I suppose”, Gwen considers. A thought suddenly darts into her head.

“Wait a minute! You’re not even that clumsy are you, you just want Merlin to help you!” she accuses, laughing at Arthur stuttering.

“No, it’s not that…” he tries, but seeing the look on Gwen’s face quickly changes tactic, “Okay yes it is, but I’m also a pretty shitty barista even without Merlin distracting me.”

Gwen contemplates this,

“Okay, how about you do the next order when someone comes in without any help. Without being bad on purpose” she adds, seeing the cogs of Arthur’s brain working. Arthur nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders,

“Fine by me.”

10 minutes pass, and the next customer, a young woman in her twenties, orders a caramel macchiato and a cheese and onion toastie. Arthur remembers all the steps to the caramel macchiato, and tries to make conversation with the customer.

Interestingly, a month ago, this would have been exactly the kind of girl he would have had no problem chatting up. Tall, blonde, perfect make-up, exactly what he thought was his type. Instead, he is dodging all of her flirtatious questions and continually trying to bring the topic back to neutral ground. She scowls at Gwen, who is cleaning the surfaces.

“Is she your girlfriend or something?”

Arthur is stunned into temporary silence before responding,

“No she isn’t, why are you asking?”

“As you’re either really dumb or purposefully missing the fact I’m trying to flirt with you”, she pouts, what would have been once been a turn on for Arthur. He grits his teeth and replies,

“Maybe I’m just not interested”, and hands her the toastie. The woman chews her lip thoughtfully and takes a sip of the drink. She hands it back,

“You’ve made it wrong.” Arthur can feel his temper rising,

“I really haven’t. I know how to make this drink, it’s a caramel macchiato.”

“I don’t really care. I want another one.”

“I don’t really give a….”

“OKAY” Gwen intervenes, and drags Arthur away from the counter by his arm.

“Take 5”, she whispers, and makes the customer another caramel macchiato. Not able to find anything wrong with it, she snatches the drink out of Gwen’s hands and storms out. At the slamming of the door, Arthur re-joins Gwen,

“What the hell was that?”

Gwen looks worried, which makes Arthur feel uneasy. Gwen is possibly one of the calmest and collected people he has ever met, and seeing concern written across her face is not something he wants to see often.

“I’m not sure Arthur, but I don’t like it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a customer speak to anyone in here that way, it was just _strange_ ” she shudders. She almost wants to ask Kil, because it feels as if it’s an issue he would know about. Or would he?

***-------________________________-------***

While Arthur and Gwen were panicking about the mysterious customer, Merlin was being grilled by Kil. Well. Kil probably wouldn’t have described it as grilling him, but that’s how it felt, as Kil asked him to demonstrate every spell possible that he had practised so far, and which ones he was struggling with.

“ _Ahatian_ ” Merlin finishes, and flops back into his seat with his cheeks burning. Kil’s face remains neutral.

“Well Merlin, how do you think you are progressing?” Kil asks, his voice clear of any emotion.

“In regards to what? Magic or the shop?”

“How about we start with the shop? How are you getting on with everyone?”

Merlin thinks. He gets on with everyone, it’s been a reasonably normal week. Except…

“… Arthur’s been acting weirder than usual. Well. He was, he might have gone back to normal now, I haven’t really spoken to him since he told me.”

“Told you what?”

“That he likes guys as well as women.” Kilgharrah genuinely is surprised. He really didn’t think things would be progressing this quickly. Genuine interest in his voice, he presses Merlin,

“And?”

“And what?”

“Why does this matter Merlin?”

“It doesn’t! It’s just…” Merlin scratches the back of his neck absent-mindedly. “… It isn’t the type of thing I thought he’d tell me.”

“Why do you think he told you then?” Kilgharrah asks. He is hopeful he knows why, but the confirmation of his being right is always appreciated.

“I told him I liked guys first? I don’t know”, Merlin squirms. Maybe he should have had this conversation with Gwen, trying to talk to Kil about liking men just feels awkward, although he knows Kil obviously doesn’t care.

“Perhaps he felt close enough to you to be able to tell you. That’s quite an honour I believe” Kilgharrah replies neutrally. He still doesn’t understand why people make a fuss over men liking men or women liking women. All humans are the same anyway.

Merlin digests this. He probably is thinking too much into this but he decides to voice his thoughts aloud,

“I don’t know, it’s just the kind of thing you tell someone right before you tell them you like them?”

Kilgharrah has to think for a moment as to why this is relevant. Oh yes. In this age, “liking” someone can also mean caring for someone romantically;

“Did he tell you that he liked you?”

“No he didn’t.”

“Merlin it may be that he just wanted to tell you. As you said, if that was meant to be ‘the thing to do’ surely he would have told you in that moment?” Kilgharrah says convincingly. It may well have been that Arthur failed in the moment, but clearly it is too soon for Merlin to feel positively about this. Merlin considers his words.

“I suppose you’re probably right. It just felt odd, that’s all.” Kilgharrah sees that the topic is clearly closed, and decides to press on with the more essential issue, magic.

“Now Merlin, as you know, so far I have been telling you to practise whatever spells you like. However, for the time being, I would like you to practise defensive spells”, he instructs.

Merlin looks puzzled,

“Is there a reason you’ve only decided now to tell me what I should be learning? Does this have anything to do with your _mysterious absence_ from the store?”

Kilgharrah sighs,

“Merlin I’ve been researching more into the curse and the other effects the curse may have had. You may not be the only magic user out there, and you need to learn how to defend yourself.” _And Arthur_ , he thinks to himself. Kilgharrah had been reluctant to admit to himself that this was a possibility, but he had felt more magic in the world recently, and it wasn’t just himself and Merlin. In this age people probably wouldn’t believe they were capable of magic, or even casting a spell, but it didn’t matter. Merlin’s magic was waking up the magic in other people.

“You expect me to fight people? Kil I don’t know enough magic!” Merlin says, starting to panic.

“Relax young warlock. I said you _may_ not be. I am simply taking precautions, there really is nothing to worry about.” Merlin visibly relaxes, and starts thumbing through the spell book,

“How many defensive spells are there to learn?”

“There are not many to learn. Most of them with practise can be done without speaking, so I would advise you learn a few which you can easily cast and then practise non-verbally.”

“Okay,” Merlin replies, and continues to flick through the book. Kilgharrah can see that beneath the surface, he still seems worried.

“Merlin”, he begins, and Merlin looks up.

“Please just trust me when I say you are more powerful than you know.”

***-------________________________-------***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was fun! Arthur being obvious to everyone except Merlin is my favourite thing to write, even Kilgharrah is getting suspicious now! Was the blonde girl magic? Was she just jealous? Is she even relevant to the story? Who knows?
> 
> I listened to "A Kind of Magic" by Queen while writing this chapter!
> 
> I'M BACK BABY! Thanks so much for all the kudos and comments, they inspire me to keep writing :)
> 
> Next chapter: Arthur updates Gwaine on what happened with Merlin, Gwen has a lot to think about!


	14. Cogito ergo sum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone seems to have a lot to think about apparently...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so fun to write! Get ready for texts, calls, and a lot of frustration...

_Gwen: Hi Kil, I know we never normally text unless it’s urgent, but something happened today before I left the shop and I have a really weird feeling about it. It sounds stupid but can I just ask you about it._

Kilgharrah frowned at the message on his phone. It was very uncharacteristic of Gwen to text him, in the two years in this world that he’d known her, the only times she had ever texted him was to let him know that she was sick and couldn’t come into work. He replied.

_Kil: Hello Guinevere. Yes you may, hopefully I will be able to help you. Please tell me what happened._

Gwen bit her lip. She still wasn’t sure if it was even worth telling Kil about, she was probably over-reacting and would forget about the incident in no time. Yet some instinct in her heart told her that what she saw was something abnormal.

_Gwen: So yesterday this blonde girl came into the shop and started flirting with Arthur and he ignored her. She was furious and asked if we were together, and after Arthur said no she got even angrier when he told her he wasn’t interested. She then demanded he make her another drink even though there was nothing wrong with the wrong Arthur had made (for once haha). It sounds silly but the whole energy she gave off was really weird._

Kilgharrah read the text three times to make sure he had understood Gwen correctly. A woman who a strange energy who immediately gravitated towards Arthur had seemed like the exact situation he was dreading starting to occur. Hesitantly he replied;

_Kil: That seems odd indeed. When you say a strange energy, could you describe that further please?_

Gwen breathed a sigh of relief. Kil may not be the most normal person she had ever met, but the fact that he seemed to believe her was strangely reassurance.

_Gwen: It’s hard to describe but it felt like there was something in the air? This is going to sound even sillier, as it was only a strange customer but I had a weird feeling that had I not intervened she would have hurt Arthur. I probably sound mad haha but that’s how I felt._

Kilgharrah froze. The “something in the air” had to be magic. Meaning Arthur probably had been in danger; something he hadn’t anticipated happening until the curse had broken and everyone had retained their memories. No-one should have their memories except himself and Morgana, unless…

_Kil: Did she look like she recognised Arthur?_

Gwen was confused. What did Kil mean by that? She replied:

_Gwen: No she definitely didn’t know him, that’s the weird part._

Kil exhaled. At least Arthur’s enemies didn’t remember him quite yet. He was dreading the mysterious woman being Morgause, and Morgana had somehow gave her back her memories. It may just be that someone with magic instinctually wanted to anger Arthur. Still, he thought to make sure;

_Kil: Did she have brown eyes?_

Gwen’s unease returned. Kil seemed too interested in what had happened to be normal as an employer. She had a feeling that there was something that Kil was keeping from her.

_Gwen: No her eyes were green_

_Gwen: There’s something you’re keeping from me though, isn’t there?_

Kilgharrah cursed aloud at Gwen’s replies. Of course Gwen’s intellect would have a downside; she certainly was smart enough to know there was something bigger going on. He wouldn’t be able to tell her the truth of course, but he may be able to tell her a version of it.

_Kil: A few years ago there was a young blonde woman who tried to destroy the destiny I was trying to create, and until you said green eyes, she would have matched the description. That’s why I was worried, I don’t want any harm to come to any of you._

Gwen now had more questions than she had answers. What did he mean by destiny, the shop? And what did he mean by harm? Was she violent? Where was the woman now? Gwen normally brushed off Kil being evasive and appreciated his need for privacy; but she wasn’t sure if she could completely let this go.

_Gwen: That’s awful, I’m so sorry. Do you know what happened to her? I don’t like the sound of her and I don’t think I want her to come here if she’s as violent as she sounds._

Kilgharrah laughed at the word ‘violent’. Magic is not always violent Guinevere, he thought, only if used by the wrong hands. Again, the truth would have to be filtered again, as he doesn’t know how Guinevere would handle him telling her that Morgause was a powerful sorceress.

_Kil: There is no need to worry Guinevere; none of this was your doing. I had heard rumours that she had passed away, but as nothing had been confirmed I could not be sure. Please do not worry, I would not let any harm come to you._

Gwen felt both relieved that the woman may be dead, and frustrated at Kil trying to reassure her that he could take care of them.

_Gwen: How are you going to take her on? Do you know karate or something?_

Karate? Kilgharrah thought. He rummaged in the drawer to find his dictionary. **Karate- an oriental system of unarmed combat using the hands and feet to deliver and block blows, widely practised as a sport.** A new word for fighting without weapons, he thought and made a note to look at some pictures of this sport.

_Kilgharrah: Trust me Guinevere, I have my ways._

Gwen rolled her eyes at the reply. She doesn’t know why she expected anything different, of course when things became exciting Kil would become evasive.

_Gwen: I trust you_

Kilgharrah smiled at the response. No, he thought, trust in the most powerful warlock who has ever lived returning magic to the world.

***-------________________________-------***

Across Glastonbury Tor, Arthur had just finished his shift at The Great Dragon with Merlin. His confession had seemed to make an invisible barrier disappear, and it seemed like the awkwardness he had created in trying to tell Merlin he liked men had vanished the moment he had told him. In high spirits, he dialled the name input into his phone “ _Sir Gwaine”._

“Princess! How are you?” Arthur rolled his eyes at the nickname,

“Fine, how are you?”

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a ‘fine’ instead of the usual ‘okay’! Did you finally get into Merlin’s boxers?”

Arthur scoffs,

“No I didn’t, but I did tell him that I liked men”.

“THAT’S MY BOY!” Gwaine roars down the phone, temporarily making Arthur wish he hadn’t left his phone volume on high while ringing Gwaine. He forgot that it was the road to becoming deaf.

“Thanks Gwaine.”

“How did you tell him? No, don’t tell me, he told you first and then you told him?”

Arthur is gobsmacked. Yes Gwaine knew him well but…

“Am I that predictable?”

“Unfortunately you are princess. When it comes to feelings you really are a princess waiting for her prince to rescue her out of the situation. Or sorcerer in this case HAHAHAHA” he guffaws down the phone. Arthur sighs, trying to remind himself why he ever thought getting Gwaine involved in anything was a good idea.

“How long are you going to continue with these Merlin and Arthur jokes?”

“Are you joking? Forever! This is literally one of the funniest situations I’ve ever seen you get into.”

“I’m glad my love life is so funny to you”, Arthur snaps, trying to hide the sulk in his voice. Gwaine makes a cooing noise down the phone.

“Arthur I think you mean lack of, as I don’t need to remind you, you are calling me rather than suck…”

“Why did I tell you any of this” Arthur loudly interrupts. Gwaine laughs down the phone;

“Because I’m the best friend you’ve got, and let’s be honest, the best chance you’ve got of getting anywhere with him.”

“What now then, _Sir_ Gwaine?” Arthur retorts. He could swear he could hear down the phone the cogs in Gwaine’s brain working. After what seems like hours, Gwaine finally speaks;

“I have an idea. But I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

“What is it?” Arthur asks tentatively. With Gwaine it could be anything from the mundane to suggesting Arthur takes Merlin skydiving.

“You invite Merlin and the great dragon gang to the pub with me, you and Leon. That way, we can all get to know each other a bit more, and it’s a bit more casual than straight up asking him on a date.”

Arthur’s brain is whirring. The idea seems genius, the only thing to consider is…

“… Gwaine are you sure alcohol is a great idea? For either of us?” Arthur can hear Gwaine scoff down the phone.

“I can handle my drink Princess, it’s you we need to worry about. What do you think though?”

Arthur sighs. This is going to be either a really good idea or a really bad idea.

“I’ll ask when I’m next at the shop.”

Gwaine’s yell of approval could deafen all of Glastonbury Tor.

***-------________________________-------***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... worlds are going to be colliding soon! Even if Arthur isn't excited, it seems like Gwaine's enthusiasm will make up for it! What in the world does Merlin think of all this? 
> 
> I was listening to Islands in the stream during writing... the comic relief version
> 
> Next chapter: what does Merlin make of what's going on? Is Arthur going to ask the others to the pub or chicken out?
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments! We are starting to reach the half way point; and my current goal is to reach the half way point before Christmas, as everything will change...


	15. Everything is not as it seems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin plays with a tennis ball, and Arthur also has balls?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy my lovelies! Merlin is practising magic, Kilgharrah isn't being helpful, and Arthur actually gets asked to help out at The Great Dragon?

_“Ástríce!”_ Merlin chants. The tennis ball stops in mid-air, just shy of Merlin’s outstretched hand. He lowers his hand and the ball drops to the floor. He’d managed to stop the ball hitting his hand, which was an improvement, however…

“Why is defensive magic so hard”, Merlin complains to himself. As he hadn’t quite mustered the courage to tell his mother yet, the only people who knew about his magic was Kil and himself. He angrily sent Kil a text:

_Merlin: Why the fuck is defensive magic so difficult?!_

While he awaited Kil’s reply, he sank onto his bed. When he had first found out he had magic, he had visions of becoming an all-powerful wizard, someone who would be fighting evil and saving the world. He hadn't imagined it to be so, well, lonely. Being one of only two people who knew he had magic was incredibly frustrating that he could not ask anyone for advice except Kil, and in situations like this, very annoying.

_Kil: Language, young warlock. What seems to be the trouble?_

Merlin could feel his frustration rising more. There was so much he wanted to say to Kil, but he had an odd suspicion that it would result in him being fired. And one annoying person to talk to about magic was definitely better than none.

_Merlin: It’s so hard to practise when I’m not in any real danger! And as you told me I can’t tell anyone, I have no-one to practise with, and it’s hard to feel like you’re in danger when you’re the one doing it to yourself._

_Kil: Merlin I told you I could tell your mother._

Kil’s reply made Merlin want to throw his phone at the wall. Kil did have a point, but as usual conveniently avoided all of the other points.

_Merlin: I haven’t got round to telling her yet. Besides, she’s at work a lot so even if she did know, it’s not like she’s around to help me practise._

_Kil: I see your point Merlin. Leave this with me, and I’ll sort something out. But please keep practising, it really is important you learn these spells._

Merlin re-read the last sentence in the text Kil sent several times. What did that even mean? That Merlin was going to be in danger? Merlin had the sinking feeling that Kil wasn’t telling him something.

Speaking of not telling him something, it seemed like everyone lately seemed to be keeping secrets. Arthur had been acting weirdly up until he’d came out to Merlin, and even after that it felt like he wasn’t telling him something. When he’d asked Gwen she said she hadn’t noticed anything.

Gwen was another issue. Gwen had been behaving normally, until Merlin left his catch-up with Kil. She had looked very worried before she left the shop, and although Merlin tried to probe Arthur, he had shrugged and said ‘weird customer’.

Merlin somehow knew this probably all linked back to Kil, or was at least part of what Kil wasn’t telling him. However, Kil had made a good point, he really did need to tell his mum about the magic, as at the rate things were progressing; she would find out before he could even tell her.

***---------_________---------***

Saturday morning broke, and The Great Dragon was in full swing. So much so, that Lance had texted Arthur begging for an extra pair of hands.

“You really texted _me_ for help? Jesus Christ Lance” Arthur laughs as he walks into the coffee shop. From behind the counter Lance gives him the finger as Arthur strides past the long queue to put his apron on.

“Well you know what today is, don’t you?” Lance replies miserably, handing someone a bag and muttering a thank you.

“No” Arthur inquires.

“National chocolate day. Look at the fucking sign Kil put in the window”, Gwen suggests bitterly.

Arthur glances to the window and winces.

**Celebrate National Chocolate Day at The Great Dragon. Buy any hot drink and receive any item with chocolate in it half price!**

“Are people that desperate for chocolate?” Arthur wonders aloud, earning a dirty look from the customer which goes unnoticed.

“Clearly!” Gwen snaps, and shoves a latté and a mocha at the customer, who smirks as she hands over the substantially less amount of cash and leaves.

“Sorry I asked”, retorts Arthur. Then he thinks,

“Hang on, why did you ask me? Merlin’s going to be much more help than I am, why didn’t you ask him for help?”

“Not so fast Arthur”, Gwen replies, a cheeky smile crossing her face. “I believe you proved yesterday morning that without distractions, you’re actually a decent barista.”

“What kind of distractions do you mean Arthur?” Lance wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. Arthur groans;

“For fuck’s sake Gwen, I can’t believe you told him!”

“Language Arthur!” Gwen trills, as she works the espresso machine. Arthur knows it’s pointless arguing over the hypocrisy so he just doesn’t say anything.

“Arthur I didn’t realise you had it this badly”, Lance laughs, and Gwen chuckles. Arthur scowls at them both,

“It’s not funny! I can’t help it if he distracts me!”

“Oh but it’s not just that is it Arthur”, Gwen teases, “You admitted that you also make mistakes on purpose so he’ll come and help you!”

Lance cracks up laughing;

“Arthur what are we going to do with you?”

“Nothing!” Arthur replies, a decidedly unmanly whinge in his voice. There’s nothing they can do anyway. Wait a minute!

“Actually…” Arthur begins, and manages to capture both of their attention, despite the steady number of customers entering the shop. “... Me and a couple of mates are going to the pub next Friday and I was wondering if you guys wanted to come? I’ll text Merlin too, and you can bring anyone you want…” Arthur trails off. Gwen and Lance beam with approval.

“Yes of course!” Gwen exclaims.

“Can I bring my friend Percy?” Lance asks.

“Yes”, Arthur answers happily. Now for the hard part.

“Should I text Merlin then?”

“YES”, they shout simultaneously. Gwen and Lance share a look and instantly start blushing. Honestly, Arthur thinks to himself, they think I’m hopeless, but they’re just as bad.

_Arthur: Hey Merlin, I’m going to the pub next Friday with a few friends, and was wondering if you wanted to come? Gwen and Lance are up for it :-)_

Arthur cringed at sending a smiley face, but convinced himself he could have sent something even more embarrassing like a love heart or an “x.”

_Merlin: Yeah I’m down, are we going straight after work?_

Arthur curses, he hadn’t thought of that. He also knew that there was no way he was going to the pub to try and impress Merlin after a full day shift in a warm shop.

_Arthur: Maybe go home and freshen up first? If we say about 9 we meet down there :-)_

Why can’t he stop sending fucking smiley emojis, if he sent another one he was going to throw his phone into the next mocha he made.

_Merlin: Sounds good :-)_

Arthur breathes a sigh of relief. At least Merlin sent one back this time. He then screenshot the conversation, and sent it to Gwaine.

_Gwaine: YES PRINCESS LOOKS LIKE YOU FINALLY GREW INTO THOSE BALLS I’VE SEEN FOR MYSELF THAT YOU HAVE. ROLL ON FRIDAY!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters keep coming it seems! It was great to delve into Merlin's mind for a bit, I feel like I've neglected him a bit. He's lonely in his magic but I assure you it won't be this way the entire story!
> 
> WE ARE GETTING CLOSE TO THE HALF WAY POINT! I am very excited for this, which is why chapters are being updated so regularly! Next chapter will be usual coffee shop shenanigans with the once and future king getting nervous!
> 
> Songs that inspired this chapter: All I can think about is you by Coldplay and goodnight n go by Ariana Grande!
> 
> Thank you all so much for the amazing comments and for all the kudos, I appreciate them all so much!


	16. The day before Friday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Great Dragon is busy, and things are hotting up for both good and bad reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter!

Twas the day before Friday, and all through the shop, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Well. The employees of The Great Dragon could only wish that the shop was so quiet. Throughout the week the shop had been full of customers; possibly hoping for more deals since the disastrous national chocolate day on Saturday. Gwen, Arthur and Lance had all signed a note left under Kil’s door demanding double time for the amount of stress they had been under. Kil had agreed; however they now wished that they had waited until the end of the week to ask for the raise; as the influx of customers had not stopped.

“Are we ever going to get a break” Arthur moaned, taking in the queue that had been present as soon as the café had opened. Usually there were certain times in the day where they could unofficially break, and could sometimes take breaks with more than one person. Throughout the week they had only taken their own breaks, and hadn’t managed to talk to each other beyond the realm of making coffee.

“This is so unusual for this time in July”, Gwen frowns. Usually, the rush picked up closer to the end of July; when the summer holidays began. In her two years of working at The Great Dragon she had never seen so many customers; and was genuinely puzzled.

“It’s almost like a spell has come over the shop”, Arthur jokes. Merlin almost spits out his coffee. _Does he know?_ He thinks, but judging by Arthur’s now confused expression he was clearly joking.

“Maybe it has”, Merlin laughs shakily. He hopes that Arthur doesn’t press him further on his reaction, as he really doesn’t know how he is going to explain himself. Gwen nods in agreement.

“I don’t know about magic but some weird things have been happening recently. I spoke to Kil and he said something about he had history with a blonde woman but that I shouldn’t be worried about it.”

“What else has happened that’s weird?” Merlin asks. Hopefully he’ll finally get an explanation as to why Gwen looked so spooked last Friday.

“I just got this really strange energy from a customer, I don’t know why but she genuinely made me feel like she would have hurt me or Arthur.”

Merlin feels uneasy. Kil did not bring this up in their conversation. Maybe this was why Kil had been so insistent that he started learning defensive spells; there were other magic users in the world. He’d seen enough films to know that magic could be used for evil as well as good. Not that he was an expert, but the “strange energy” probably was a sort of magic.

“I’m sure if Kil said it was nothing to worry about he’s probably right”, Merlin offers reassuringly. Gwen bites her lip thoughtfully. She doesn’t look convinced.

“Yes but let’s be realistic Merlin, what on earth is Kil going to do if someone attacks the shop?” Gwen responds sarcastically.

Merlin racks his brain trying to think of an answer. He knows that Kil has magic, so realistically they would all be safe if they were under a magical attack. He also has magic; although he may not be as experienced as Kil is, he’s sure with the few defensive spells he knows he would be able to defend the others long enough for Kil to help him.

“I think Kil is stronger than he looks”, Merlin declares, earning a snort of laughter from Arthur.

“I love how you see the best in people Merlin”, Arthur laughs as he hands a customer an espresso. Merlin can feel himself getting annoyed; why is it that people are always underestimated just because of how they look.

“You should be lucky I chose to see the best in you and forgave you for being a Tory”, Merlin snaps back. There is an awful silence. Arthur looks shattered, as if his whole world had just been ripped away. Almost immediately, Merlin knows he’s made a massive mistake, as the guilt rapidly descends on him.

“I guess so”, Arthur quietly replies and turns away from him to prepare a sandwich. Gwen shoots Merlin a look that screams ‘do something’.

“No, Arthur, I’m sorry. Gwen can we step outside a minute?" Merlin asks pleadingly. Gwen looks at the line and nods cautiously.

“Be quick.”

***---------_________---------***

As Arthur steps outside, with every step he repeats to himself _don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry._ If Merlin really does still think of him as a spoilt brat, he’s going to have to try and get over this, and stand his ground and tell him the real reason he’s working at the coffee shop. As Merlin shuts the door, they lock eyes. Arthur doesn’t break eye contact until Merlin looks away, the possible guilt getting the better of him.

“I’m sorry.”

Arthur can feel a lump in his throat rising. Trying to ignore it he responds flatly;

“If that’s how you feel that’s your opinion Merlin.”

He can see Merlin’s face flashing conflicting emotions, settling on sadness.

“Arthur it’s really not. I might have thought that once, but I don’t believe you’re a Tory at all. You are a good person and I’m sorry I said that.”

“Then why did you say it?” Arthur asks before he can stop himself. Luckily, Merlin doesn’t seem angry at the question, he just seems to look more downcast.

“It touched a nerve”, Merlin responds shortly. Arthur can see now that he’s going to have to quiz Merlin further to find out what the issue really was.

“Seeing the best in people? Merlin that’s a good trait, I truly didn’t mean that as an insult” Arthur explains, smiling softly. Some of the tension seems to leave Merlin’s shoulders, and he sighs.

“No, I meant underestimating people who don’t look like they’re capable of anything based off their appearance”. The sadness in Merlin’s voice indicates clearly that this isn’t just a social justice issue, it is a personal one too. Guilt seems to wash over Arthur like a flood. Is he as bad as his father for judging people before he gets to know them? Is he really that shallow?

“I wasn’t thinking. I suppose I might have done it without thinking about it. I’m really sorry”, Arthur says, meaning every word. Merlin takes in the apology and nods.

“It’s not like you’re the first person to have done it.”

The words seem to have more weight than Merlin realises, as they seem to strike an arrow straight into Arthur’s heart. He has spent his entire life being Uther Pendragon’s son. No-one has ever underestimated him in his life, and have always appreciated his worth. Arthur Pendragon has never been thought of anything less than capable.

Merlin clearly has, he thinks to himself, looking at the other boy in front of him. He can’t understand why. Merlin seems to radiate a quiet confidence, as if he knows something everyone else doesn’t. Arthur can’t fathom why people wouldn’t take Merlin seriously; he knew from the day he met Merlin that something was different about him. His mouth seems to work faster than his brain, as he responds,

“I think you’re pretty special.”

Arthur can feel the flush reach every part of his body in embarrassment. He cannot believe he’s even said the words out loud. Even Merlin is blushing, and seems to be in just as much shock as what Arthur’s said. In barely a whisper, he replies;

“Do you really mean that?”

Arthur looks at the hope in Merlin’s eyes, and knows there is no way he can deny what he said;

“Yes.”

Merlin appears to be taking the words in. Just as he is about to say something, Gwen pops her head out of the door;

“Have you two sorted things out?”

Arthur and Merlin nod simultaneously.

“Can you both come back in now? The queue has seriously not let up since you left and I’m struggling.” Gwen leaves the two boys standing, to go back in to face the army of coffee consumers.

“We should probably go back in there” Arthur offers. Merlin nods and starts walking towards the door. He stops, and turns to face Arthur.

“You’re not too bad either.”

Merlin quickly walks back inside, leaving Arthur wondering if it was even possible to feel as much as he did right now.

 ***---------_________---------***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the direction I was planning, but the story decided it needed a little bit of angst... I hope you all enjoyed! I forgot that when Merlin snapped, he SNAPS. Do not push Emrys' buttons. As you may have seen by the title; tomorrow is Friday, the day the gang are due to meet up and go to the pub! Without giving anything away, Friday is going to be a long and incredibly day and evening for all of the gang...
> 
> Songs to listen to: Hypnotised and Us against the world by Coldplay.
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos and comments, they really help me to keep going! We are now getting close to a scene I have been wanting to write since I started the story.
> 
> Next chapter will include Arthur swooning, Gwen eye-rolling and Merlin being clueless as usual.


End file.
